LEAD

The EQMC Mini Fest: Fifteen Bands, One Yellow Barn and Plenty of Fun and Games

By Louisa Ainsworth
Photographic Contributions by Louisa Ainsworth and Alan Torres
April 20, 2010

Amidst the upscale bars and coffee shops along Main Street and the surrounding area, there lies a yellow barn. This yellow barn held a music festival, Saturday, April 10, hosted by the East Quad Music Co-op. The EQMC is a student-run group that organizes concerts monthly in the Half-Ass (the old cafeteria in East Quad, now used as a venue). For a special end-of-the-year celebration, they decided on something new and different: The Mini Fest. Over fifteen bands attended the event, mostly local, from the Detroit area, Grand Rapids and other nearby cities and towns. The Yellow Barn is in fact a big yellow barn, with interesting art, old ornate chairs, rustic dismantled doors, and colored holiday lights: everything needed to create the perfect hipster spring festival. The event lasted the entire day from noon to 3a.m., with waves of fans coming in regularly. The audience was comprised of a combination of local older (at least older than us students) folk as well as students. To make the event even more worthwhile (there was even more than the fifteen bands), the EQMC asked several student groups to participate. The Ceramics Club showcased their amazing pottery throughout the morning, student representatives from UMS gave out flyers and free gear and students involved in an East Quad renovation project set up a station to contribute to painting a mural.

The feeling of the event was warm and fuzzy, not a stellar five star concert, but a fun community event. Members from the Spins participated in yoga exercises in the yoga corner, provided by Russa Yoga, in between songs and spent quite awhile at the arts and crafts table. Nathan K hung around the whole day, hanging out with friends and the EQMC staff. Members of the Secret Twins were in the crowd long before they were scheduled to play, just to come and support their fellow musicians. Students and band members were totally integrated, chatting and hanging out the whole day. The music was great and all the bands had fun performances, but even more than that, it was so cool to see U of M students totally involved in the local music scene of Ann Arbor. The friendly atmosphere and super funky venue made the EQMC Mini Fest a very successful local music event. For a complete list of all the bands that attended, check out the facebook event.