Whether it’s playing in the headphones of students as they walk to classes, bouncing out of concert venues like The Canopy Club or even blaring from the horns of the Marching Illini, music is everywhere around Champaign-Urbana.
“The music scene here is pretty spectacular,” said Nick Riley, guitarist of local band Manifest West. “I like to call it ‘Little Nashville.’ You got people coming through here; it’s a hub for music.”
However, one of the reasons that the University stands out for music is because of its large house show scene.
The Barn, House of Sol, The Mirror, Concordia and Red’s House are just a few of many houses that put on concerts nearly every weekend for indie artists to perform their music and grow their audience in an intimate setting.
“When you’re at a house show, you’re on the same level as everyone,” said Coggan Banerian, drummer with Manifest West. “You’re not up on a stage … There’s a lot less pressure.”
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Claimed by local musicians as the “birthplace of Midwest emo,” the music community surrounding the University is known to be one of the largest in the state, which can be attributed to house shows.
But what is a house show anyway, and what is the point? Why go to a house show when you can go to one of C-U’s professional venues?
Musicians and concertgoers in the community have a variety of answers to these questions. However, a pair of seniors at the University have a unique perspective.
“DIY scenes really allow for a lot of these musicians, who would never have the opportunity to perform professionally, to get started and get a feel for what’s going on,” said Aidan Gardner, co-founder of The Barn.
Gardner, along with his roommate Jesse McKenzie, started putting on shows in early 2023 when the pair moved into a new house and saw it fit for hosting.
“The first month we lived in this house, we didn’t have a single show,” McKenzie said. “I mean, we used that time to A) convince our roommates we could have the show, and then B) actually figure out what the show would be. There’s a lot of work that goes into a house show … It takes some dedication if you’re looking to throw it.”
Driven by a passion for giving smaller artists a platform, the pair have hosted two shows since the beginning of the spring semester and are preparing for a third on Feb. 16.
Artists and bands like Manifest West, Daisy Chain, Bum Rush and Haunted X Humans are frequent performers across the community and can all attribute some degree of growth to passion-driven venues like The Barn or Concordia.
House shows tend to be a friendlier environment than that of concerts. The artists and those in attendance are treated to a far more laid-back, kinder environment.
“Our scene is just people who want to come together and have a good time,” said Roan O’Brien of Manifest West. “There’s absolutely zero judgment I feel from the crowd every time we play live … It’s just ‘Let’s all be in the same small, sweaty basement and just rock out together.’”
Despite the venues being tame, they can certainly get rambunctious considering how close the fans are to the musicians during performances.
On top of that, McKenzie and Gardner both suggest that there’s plenty of talent in the area and while the sound equipment at house shows is of a lower quality, there’s a whole world of potential within the community’s musicians.
“I think we’re waiting for the day, whether it’s 10 years from now, 20 years from now, where we can say, ‘Yeah, that band, they played at our house in college,’ and now they’re like touring big stages,” McKenzie said. “That’s kind of a dream, I think.”
