Friday, November 4, the newly redesigned Edge Café was the site of a live performance by indie rock band Joywave. The concert, presented by the Student Committee on Providing Entertainment (SCOPE), had students singing, dancing and headbanging until they were begging for an encore. The Edge Café in Bryan Complex, having undergone several transformations over the past few years and shifting from eatery to vacant space to currently renovated study room, was the perfect venue for this performance.

Joywave hails from Rochester, New York. Referencing this proximity, vocalist Daniel Armbruster kicked off the show by joking that each band member attended state colleges because they were not admitted to Colgate. While not attending Colgate may have kept Joywave from hours spent at Case, late night Slices orders and walks down Willow Path, it certainly did not hinder their success. Joywave has made appearances on comedy shows like “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and has performed at music festivals including Coachella and Lollapalooza. The band is most famous for its collaboration with Big Data on the song “Dangerous,” but has recently been developing an independent repertoire. 

Joywave opened with its most popular single, “Destruction,” and the Edge was instantly filled with energy. Soon enough, Armbruster was encouraging students to clap, jump and move to the beat. During songs like “Parade,” with longer musical interludes, Armbruster maintained the crowd’s excitement by running into the audience and interacting with band members Sean Donnelly (bass), Joseph Morinelli (guitar), Benjamin Bailey (keyboard) and Paul Brenner (drums). During “Nice House” and “Golden State,” Brenner tossed his head to the beat, his long hair producing a truly “rocker” effect. Sophomore Talia Greenblatt enjoyed Joywave’s electronic yet alternative sound, and specifically pointed to Armbruster’s talents.

“I really liked how the vocals worked so well with the instruments,” Greenblatt said. “[Joywave] has a really unique sound.” 

Between songs, Armbruster expressed his gratitude to the students who worked to bring Joywave to campus. He particularly appreciated SCOPE Creative Director Benji Geisler’s poster design, explaining that it made the band look cool. Besides a poster, SCOPE also created a Snapchat geofilter for students to add to photos and videos that documented the concert. This not only excited the many social media-users in attendance, but also helped bring the performance to those who could not attend. Sophomore Keira Mongeon was thankful for SCOPE’s efforts as well. 

“I’m really glad SCOPE can bring these kinds of artists to campus,” Mongeon said. 

Joywave closed the concert with “Life in a Bubble I Blew,” but the audience was by no means ready to stop dancing. Students cheered for an encore, to which Joywave responded humorously by singing the words “one more song” to an improvised beat. Ultimately, though, the crowd’s wishes were fulfilled as Joywave played “Destruction” once more to close out the show. As the audience winded down, Armbruster thanked each bandmate, highlighting their talents and encouraging the audience to recognize each member’s individual skills. Colgate students were quick to oblige, erupting in applause and cheers for the truly joyous Joywave.