Show-goers dancing in the packed house. Photo by Brittany LeaIf you haven’t yet heard of The Underground Foundation at ASU, check them out immediately. I went to a TUF event on Saturday night and it was wildly entertaining.
When I arrived about a half hour after the listed start time for the event, I was a bit confused to find fewer people than expected and no bands at what I thought to be a four-band house show.
But, as you know, good things take time. So I stuck around, and I’m glad I did.
The first band to play (with painted faces and masks) was Red Tank. Unfortunately I couldn’t see much of this band because the house was packed full of people, and I am of very small stature, but judging by the audience response they were putting on a great show.
Sundressed playing for and pleasing the crowd. Photo by Brittany LeaThe next band, which I was able to see more of, was Lawnchair. Their style was different, but just as well received. I was standing at my spot in the kitchen, safe from all the moshing spectators up front, when a crowd surfer was lifted up right over my head.
Now let me remind you, this is a house with regulation height ceilings, and a fan in the middle of the living room. The crowd surfer could only make it so far before the surfing got dangerous, but it was fun to see nonetheless.
Cue third band Sundressed. Two more crowd surfers, more crazy-dance-moshing, and many a shout out to the members of the band.
The fourth and final band to play was Owl & Penny, who I am sad to say I missed, but whose show, I’m sure, was just as lively as the rest.
Between bands, everyone would pour out of the hot and sweaty house into the backyard, where there was a fire and some seating.
This is where I got to talk to the house owner and TUF Vice President and Cofounding Member, Nick McKee, 21.
The Underground Foundation’s sweatshirt. Photo by Brittany Lea“I like to hold house shows,” McKee, a senior at ASU, said. When asked why he helped found the club, McKee said, “I have nothing else more important than this in my life.”
He said he loves TUF because it’s the “best opportunity for all ages to meet a lot of other kids.”
The Underground Foundation blog writer, ASU senior, and fellow founding member Dane Jarvie, 22, said the club came together because they were all into art and music and they needed a forum for expression.
“Before we were just a bunch of lone punks wandering campus without a home,” Jarvie said. “It’s the young people who truly have a passion for music.”
If you’d like to reach me with comments, concerns, or suggestions, you can email me at anconrad13@gmail.com or tweet me at @alliectersely
