To kick off their entrance into the Southern Conference, Mercer University hosted the SoCon Fest on the Black Field on Friday, September 5, 2014. The night included food from the Bear’s Den, many tents representing different organizations, and live music provided by the bands sunDollars and The Revivalists.
Many students attended the event to eat at the infamous Bears Den.
Mercer sophomore, Blossom Thao, stated, “The food was really good… I saw a lot of people eating macaroni and cheese and peach cobbler, and they said it was really good too.”
Noah Still, also a Mercer student, commented on all of the organizations that were represented at the event, such as the Georgia Lottery, saying that they were advertising their $1,000 give away and handing out “freebies.”
The music began with a band who originated out of Macon, Georgia called sunDollars. Their band consists of Sean Williams, Jacob Bruner, Steven Coley, and Patrick McAfee. The band started with Jacob and Steven who had played together in many different bands. Jacob worked with Patrick, and when Jacob learned of his enjoyment of music, he asked him to be in a band. Sean came on the scene when he went to Jacob and Patrick’s work to play some instruments with his dad. Since they realized his talent, they asked him to join as well.
When they were asked why they decided to play at the SoCon Fest, McAfee said, “We love community events…We are real pumped to be here and see [Mercer] kind of stepping up a little bit, as far as making their way into the Southern Conference.”
Although this was the last show the band had planned, they are hoping to release an album at the turn of the year.
Bruner said, “We know we haven’t put out as much as we probably should have, being together for as long as we have, so we are ready to just have a massive outpour of music.”
They also gave their website, sundollars.bandcamp.com, if anyone wants to listen to their music.
The Revivalists also played at the celebration. Their band includes David Shaw, Ed Williams, Rob Ingraham, Zack Feinberg, George Gekas, and Andrew Campanelli. The Revivalists originated out of New Orleans when the individual members moved their to go to college or pursue music. Zack found David sitting on a porch playing his guitar and singing while Zack was riding his bike through the neighborhood. He stopped to tell David that he was talented, and a 7 year friendship began.
When asked about where the bands inspiration originates, George, the bass player, answered, “ It’s what we do. It’s who we are. It’s how we exist.”
To add to that, pedal steel guitar player, Ed Williams, said, “We’ve worked this hard to get here because this is all we know how to do. It’s not work to us.”
Although the band was sleep deprived and exhausted from traveling, they presented an amazing show. People were dancing and singing and enjoying the music in front of the stage, and the band seemed to enjoy performing for their fans as well.
As Blossom Thao reminisced on her experience of the evening, she said, “I have to say this was probably my favorite event ever on Mercer campus because I wanted to stay the whole time, and I didn’t want to leave at all.”
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