Student Band Boxed Whine Opens for Indie Group Slow Pulp
Cat in the Cream hosted indie rock band Slow Pulp and student band Boxed Whine on Monday, Nov. 29. Courtesy of Khadijah Halliday Sydney Rosensaft Senior Staff Writer On Monday, Nov. 29, the Cat in the Cream hosted indie rock band Slow Pulp with an opening performance from Oberlin student band Boxed Whine. Hoping to increase event turnout and revitalize the campus music scene, the Cat is making a concerted effort to showcase more student talent at their performances. College third-year, Hillel Hinton-Williams is a manager and booker at the Cat. Over the summer, Hinton-Williams learned an effective strategy for boosting event attendance: use student bands as a magnet for additional friends and attendees. His method worked again on Monday, drawing around 160 concertgoers, nearly double the average usual turnout. “I wanted to have a student opener so we could make sure we get a bigger crowd to come in,” Hinton-Williams said. “Everyone is aware of the student bands that are playing. They have friends and groups that they invite.” This Monday’s matchup of Slow Pulp and Boxed Whine fell into place naturally. Months ago, Slow Pulp’s agent reached out to Hinton-Williams about playing at Oberlin. Hinton-Williams had seen Boxed Whine perform and was eager to bring them to the Cat, so he offered the group the opportunity to open for Slow Pulp. For most of the band’s mem-
bers, it was their first chance to share the stage with a professional band. Jeanne Hill, College fourth-year and lead singer of Boxed Whine, was thrilled about this gig. “I had never opened for a professional band before, so this was a pretty exciting opportunity, especially because I had already been a fan of their music,” Hill said. Eamon McKeon, College fourth-year and lead guitarist of Boxed Whine, also excitedly anticipated the set. He especially appreciated meeting Slow Pulp’s band members — all musicians around his age who have dedicated their lives to their band. At first, he was intimidated by the prospect of performing alongside a professional group, but felt comfortable as soon as the show began. “It felt really cool to have that sense of a partnership with another band,” McKeon said. “It was very humanizing to be like, at the end of the day, we’re all just people.” While the event was headlined by a professional band, the show equally highlighted the student group. After a year and a half of restrictions, excitement to see student performers again has grown around campus. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, McKeon has noticed a shift from his first year. Come graduation this June, there may be just a handful of bands remaining. The Cat is working to avoid this predicted absence. As one of Oberlin’s key performance spaces,
it has a strong musical influence on campus. Managers are actively drawing in more student bands and helping to boost awareness of these bands around campus. “There’s a conscious effort to get younger student performers inside the Cat in the Cream,” Hinton-Williams said. In the hopes of promoting student bands, the Cat is hosting a “Battle of the Bands” from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Dec. 11. Students can register their band to compete in a campus-wide musical competition in front of a live audience. Student bands gain traction by performing in student spaces and rely on peer support to get their names out. Hinton-Williams is fighting for the student music presence on campus to return, something he was only able to experience for one semester during his first year. Hill is focused on encouraging everyone to participate in campus music culture, bringing other students into rehearsal spaces and house shows in an effort to show them how welcoming and supportive the scene is. By performing in student spaces, Boxed Whine hopes to act as a role model for younger students. “I want to see more music on this campus,” Hill said. “I hope that after this show, first-, second- and third-years feel comfortable approaching us and talking about the Oberlin music scene — if I knew of any younger bands, I would totally hit them up to play at my house!”
Artistic Director and Designer Virgil Abloh Dies Sunday Continued from page 10 In 2013, Abloh founded his second and most recognizable brand, Off-White. Here, Abloh trademarked his signature aesthetics — the quotation marks, zip ties, and barricade tape. Irony was essential, executed through reworking the meaning of images or words by placing them next to contrasting ones or using quotation marks to imply self-awareness. These aesthetic and ideological principles were made even more apparent in his 2017 collaboration with Nike, “The Ten,” where he was asked to rework the brand’s ten most iconic shoes. Some models were made inside out; holes were cut in random spots; the classic “Swoosh” logo was lowered so that it fell over the shoe’s rubber sole; and the sides of soles were labeled with a capitalized, quotation-
The Oberlin Review | December 3, 2021
marked, “AIR,” alluding to the alleged air bubbles inside the base of Air Jordans. The collection was probably the biggest drop in the 2010s and still has new iterations coming out today. In 2018, Abloh was named artistic director of Louis Vuitton Menswear, becoming only the third Black man to lead a major French fashion house. This was a major decision not only because it broke racial barriers, but also because it changed the meaning of luxury fashion itself. The appointment was the final step towards the complete marriage of streetwear and luxury — the man in charge of the most popular streetwear brand in the world was now also the head of the most popular luxury brand in the world. His subsequent collections brought a new modern take to the
heritage of the fashion house, bringing in cultural figures such as Kid Cudi, Dev Hynes, and Saul Willams as models. A year later, he had a collaboration with Ikea and opened his own exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Abloh’s work was not without controversy. His rejection of “original” ideas and emphasis on referencing others’ works led to many accusations of him stealing designs from younger artists who couldn’t protect themselves and shamelessly copying other famous designers. His comments on the lootings that occured at Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020 and on his measly bail fund donation were surprisingly unaware for an artist so intent on introspection and reflection. Nev-
ertheless, the impact he made in such a short amount of time is undeniable. His designs went beyond clothing — they were identity signifiers that recontextualized art, music, and philosophy, creating a new cultural currency. He made the fashion industry much more accessible by bringing his community with him into the exclusive halls of Paris Fashion Week. Louis Vuitton honored the late designer by carrying on with the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2022 Menswear show two days after his death this past Tuesday, ending it with a recording of Abloh himself saying, “There’s no limit. … Life is so short that you can’t waste even a day subscribing to what someone thinks you can do versus knowing what you can do.”
13
