By Meg Keough
Under the lights strung across Heartwood’s outdoor stage and field, concert-goers were spread across the benches and packed in the pit near the front of the stage to listen to the music and engage with the energy of the bands.
To close out the end of 2022, Gainesville’s college music scene banded together to sing, sway and release end-of-semester stress to the rhythm of indie music.
On Dec. 2, the finale of Swamp Records’ 2022 Indie Live concert series took place at Heartwood Soundstage with performances by Rohna, Driveaway, The Forum and Bambii Lamb. The concert was also a part of Indie Night Live’s East Coast Tour with coordination and social media promotion by Andres Hernandez, the bassist and vocalist for Rohna.
From bopping along to the jazzy beat of Rohna’s original song “All Around” to moshing to their cover of “505” by the Arctic Monkeys, Hernandez noted that the vibrancy of Gainesville’s college music scene works in tandem with Rohna’s dynamic sound.
“I’m anticipating that sense of whimsy and pageantry that only a night show at Heartwood can bring,” said Driveaway vocalist Trenton Ropp.
Driveaway’s past experience playing a set at Playground Music and Arts Festival at Heartwood on Aug. 27 gave them perspective on the intimate atmosphere that their acoustic songs, like “Happy Birthday,” can create under the stars and tranquility of the night.
“It’s a safe space at night,” said Ropp, “and it feels like an extra boost of comfort for everyone to feel the music and not feel the spotlight on them.”
Gainesville-native Bambii Lamb’s saccharine sounding yet sarcastic tunes introduced a playful link between the Gainesville college crowd and the indie music to follow. Her moody and reckless anthem “GWIW” played into the energy of restlessness pent-up from the stress of school and work among college audiences.
Later, The Forum’s smooth dance tones energized the crowd and solidified the engagement initiated by Lamb’s opening act. The Forum’s connection with the Gainesville college music scene, notably to their relationship with Swamp Records, has brought them closer to the lasting freeing feeling established between artists and Gainesville’s college crowd that carries on throughout the years.
“Even with the turnover of people, like students and people who work here after college and then leave, there’s always a change of who the people are in Gainesville,” said The Forum vocalist and guitarist Michael Higgins, “but the feeling doesn’t really change and I feel that’s very unique.”
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