On Oct. 17, a Halloween-themed performance was held in the entertainment space maintained by Rowan’s 2022 Battle of the Bands winner, Earth on Fire. Rowan Alternative Music, an Student Government chartered club, organized the event, and Glassboro’s AudioSpace, a music venue with a focus on hosting bands, provided the venue’s space.
Rowan Alternative Music’s (RALT) objective is to support the local music scene in Rowan as well as to foster a community where individuals can share, discuss, and just enjoy music. One of the club’s most-anticipated events is its yearly Halloween party.
“Definitely the most exciting gigs of the year. Everyone gets to dress and wear whatever they want…band members come dressed up — it’s fantastic — wonderful energy,” said RALT President Liam Devenny.
While this was RALT’s fourth time hosting the Halloween party, it was their first time working on this occasion with AudioSpace.
“I love providing opportunities for other bands… We have a lot of big artists playing tonight and every show gets more fun to run, but also stressful to run, but I love it,” said Eddie Masterson, vocalist and guitarist of Earth on Fire and co-owner of Audio Space.
Almost all of the students that went to the occasion were dressed in original costumes from angels to devils to pirates. One man showed up dressed as a plague doctor, and yet another arrived wearing an old fashion-retro TV on his head.
There were surely many diverse, interesting costumes to behold, some of which were spooky, seductive and humorous to observe. Most importantly, everyone – costumed or not – came out to watch some of their favorite local musicians play.
Several New Jersey-based performers were the event’s biggest draw. Former Rowan student and multi-instrumentalist producer, Maximus DiPierro, more commonly known as Max Volante, opened the event.
The young musician has made a number of wildly avant-garde, genre-defining tunes that tap into all of his varied talents – including drums, guitar and piano. Volante performed at the event to an enthralled audience.
Surprise musical guest and distinguished Rowan alumnus, Ant Saunders, known for his hit song “Yellow Hearts,” later joined Volante. Near the end of his performance, Saunders and Volante gave a joint performance, with Devenny referring to Saunders as a “Rowan legend.”
“I’m excited to be back here experiencing the scene again and this time actually getting to be on stage a little bit,” Saunders stated before his performance.
A singer and songwriter named Kiaura Rose, who also dressed up in an amazing Stephen King’s “Carrie” costume, performed as the second act of the evening. With gorgeous songs, her distinctive and brilliant voice was unlike any other.
Latchkey Kids, the evening’s final act, was a phenomenal act from New Brunswick that gave a performance to remember featuring their new song “rutratz university.”
The night finished fairly late, which was appropriate for Halloweekend, and with that RALT tucked another successful Halloween show under their belt.
“My goal as president has been to introduce more diverse bills to Rowan because the majority of bills are indie, shoegaze, dream pop,” Devenny said. “There are so many different musicians I’ve met through the music industry program and I know a lot of rappers that are insanely talented… so I also want to bring hip hop here.”
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