REVIEW: ROCKTOBER NIGHT ONE
Throughout its history, Temple hasn’t just been a college – it’s been an integral part of the Philadelphia community and every one of its subcultures. The same follows today, as Temple students partake in and influence the many cultures and communities within the Philadelphia area – especially in music. On October 2nd, WHIP hosted its annual Rocktober event – their annual “battle of the bands” competition hosted right outside of Temple’s campus. Through the event’s three nights, local bands enter to compete in three rounds, after which audience members vote for which bands they think should progress to the next event. Rocktober created an opportunity for local bands in the DIY music scene to both showcase their talent through competition and connect with other local musicians. Many of these bands consist of current Temple students or recent Temple grads; with most reporting that their time at Temple sparked their love for music.
After setting up the venue, the WHIP staff welcomed over 100 ticketed audience members to their sold-out first night. Local house venue, The Flood, was quickly packed as Temple community members lined up to hear both established and emerging local bands. This experience was rewarding for listeners and band members alike, with bands providing WHIP staff with their perspectives on this event. The first band interviewed, Greeting Cards, provided staff with insight into their experience at the first round and what having spaces like Rocktober means to them.
How do you feel about the Philly music scene? Do you feel like living in Philadelphia has influenced your music?
Tommy: I really love the Philly music scene. I feel lucky to have grown up an hour outside of Philly listening to a bunch of bands from here – so now it’s super sick to now be one of those bands in Philadelphia. Everyone here is so awesome and welcoming.
How do you feel about Temple, and Philly, having spaces like this for you to share your music?
Tommy: We’ve made a lot of great friends through playing shows here – and there are so many sweet venues, so many awesome people willing to let their house get a little trashed to throw an awesome show. A basement show like this is irreplaceable.
Logan: It’s always a good time. It’s like show and tell. I love being like, ‘this is what we’ve made, and I’d love to hear what you made.’ Everyone just comes together and pools their resources so we can put on these amazing shows.
Paratopia, another competing band, shared how Philadelphia and their time at Temple University have influenced the jazz melodies that made their performance a favorite among the audience.
I noticed that you have a huge jazz influence in your sound. Can you tell me what inspires that?
Louis: We’re all Temple Students, and a lot of us are jazz students in the Boyer College of Music – so we play a lot of Jazz regularly. We’ve grown to love jazz fusion, and we wanted to give it some energy and entertain the audience with that.
As Philadelphians, do you feel like Philly has inspired your love of jazz and entertainment?
Laurans: Definitely. We’re influenced by all the people that play with us here in Philly – the surrounding communities, professors at Temple, everything. It’s just a great learning process.
As the night came to a close, fans put in their final votes– resulting in Paratopia, Greeting Cards, Banshee, and Distritik progressing to round two of Rocktober.
