Filled with sparkly dresses, leather pants and a lot of scrunchies, the scene at Shaffer Art Building last Friday was a blast from the past.

“We want you to dance,” said Marianne Solivan, an assistant professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, as she threw glow sticks into the audience. “Get in the aisles if you have to, do what you gotta do!”

Presented by the Jazz and Commercial Music Program at SU, Eighties Night was an informal concert featuring performers of various ages, from freshman to graduate students. The students were grouped into bands and each performed a short set in the Shemin Auditorium.

The program focuses on jazz and more formal events, so this show was a departure from their usual performances, said freshman vocalist Grace Ferguson. Solivan stated at the beginning of the show that the event was purely for fun and a lighthearted way to start off the semester.

“This show is meant to be a fun way for students coming back to school to get a chance to perform,” vocalist Jason Suris said. “These events are important to keep our little JCM community together.”

The show was originally intended to be a small, fifteen person production. But the students’ passion for that era of music made the JCM 80’s show a vibrant celebration, with five bands playing ten songs, said Solivan, who organized the event.

Drummer Alex Talarico, a senior in the program, said the eighties show was a breath of fresh air compared to the program’s usual lineup of jazz and funk tunes.

Ferguson sang “Livin’ On a Prayer” and “Head Over Heels” for her band’s set, then provided backing vocals for “Through the Fire” and “In the Air Tonight” for another group. Solivan highlighted Ferguson, along with Kathryn Lee and Nancy Dunkle, to acknowledge that they were freshmen and new to the program.

“I think the arts, and especially music, are so important because of their power to bring people together and convey emotion far beyond what words can illustrate,” Talarico said. “And on a less serious note, sharing and playing music with others is so much fun.”

The audience was just as involved as the performers, clapping their hands to Kathryn Lee and Nancy Dunkle’s rendition of “Love is a Battlefield” and singing along to Ferguson and Ania Kapilani’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

Angelina Lim and Aaron Cournoyer, two members in the audience, said they love high energy music events because they are a different type of entertainment than most other performances in Syracuse.

They said they’d like to see more of these events on campus and that the university should publicize them to a wider audience.

“I’m only here because (my friend) told me about it,” said Lim. “I wish there was more advertisement for these things.”

After their performance, Solivan said she was impressed with how the groups had meshed together. She said she was proud of the performers for making it happen after weeks of rehearsal.

“It was a labor of eighties love,” Solivan said.

Published on October 2, 2022 at 11:01 pm