PHOTO STORY: Belmont's Best Shine on Curb Event Center Stage
- Braden Simmons
- Apr 7
- 4 min read
A multi-genre, spanning showcase of the best artists Belmont has to offer took place over the weekend in the Curb Event Center.
Belmont’s showcase series closed out with its annual Best of the Best Showcase on Saturday night.
Despite the dreary weather outside Belmont students, faculty and others filled the arena to get a glimpse of the artists on display.
Opening the show shrouded in darkness with ambient red light was the Battle of the Bands winner RAWHONEY. They returned with their synthetic pop-rock sound that Bruins may remember from their showing at Freedom Plaza earlier this year.
All of the songs they performed are on the band's newly released EP and were largely filled with a lot of angsty lyrics and aggressive instrumentals. The band came out in T-shirts, jeans and sneakers and rocked the Curb Event Center.
Their set ended on a song with a heavier sound that reverberated the screaming lyrics throughout the curb and the lead singer largely screamed as heavy guitar riffs thundered behind him.
The crowd bobbed and cheered from its seats.
Following an abrupt ending from RAWHONEY., the showcase transitioned to songwriter Natalie Dickerson from the Fall Songwriter Showcase.
She brought a far airier sound to the stage following a raging song from RAWHONEY.
She sang her first song about waking up from a dream of loving someone as she strummed softly on her guitar.
The crowd erupted as she strummed the final notes of her songs.
Donned in a pastel orange dress, Christian Showcase Winner Meredith Aguirre opened with airy vocals that reverberated throughout the Curb Event Center.
She performed a song about having faith as she was covered in a spotlight while the rest of the band crashed behind her.
Eventually, her sound transitioned to a calmer, more melodic sound while images of stained-glass church windows flashed on the screen behind her.
Her vocals blended beautifully with her backup vocalists as they harmonized and she got the whole crowd clapping, as she swayed across center stage.
As she sang out the final notes and her band crescendoed, the crowd erupted.
In a white shirt and black pants, Mack Ashbaugh was next up as the other fall writers showcase winner.
He strummed a quiet melody to a silently listening crowd as he sang his first song about trying to take in everything that he could, which he dedicated to his sister and mom.
The crowd applauded at the conclusion of his two-song set.
Pop Showcase winner Izzy Potter strolled on to stage in a flowing white top and black skirt outfit and brown boots.
Her ephemeral sound was complemented well by her backup vocalists and striking bass notes.
Wheat fields sprawled across the background as she sang a fun, folksy song that the drums thumped along to.
She closed out the set by having her two backup vocalists sing alongside her center stage before she walked off stage.
Strolling on to stage in a flannel and jeans was spring songwriter’s round winner Greyson Gainey.
He came out with a harmonica holder around his neck and a guitar strapped around his shoulder. He began with a tender song strumming the strings and tapping the body of his guitar.
The crowd applauded as he left and before remembering to come back to retrieve his harmonica holder.
A trumpet begins to blare as red lighting takes over the stage, building up anticipation for the Country Showcase winner Aniston Pate, who came out in an entirely white outfit and hat, contrasted by black boots.
She came out to her bumping songs that got toes tapping in the curb event center.
The drums thumped a slow steady beat that led into Pate’s “Honkeytonk without a Woman,” as the horns blared again.
Pate closed out by thanking the crowd for coming out and told them to tip their bartenders before heading out.
Kendal Nicole. the second winner of the Spring Singer Songwriter Showcase, was up next on stage.
She played a soft strumming melody before singing out to the crowd, donning a black dress and strumming a white guitar.
Her airy vocals carried throughout the curb event center as the crowd listened intently to her crooning about a guy missing a girl who heads off to college.
Her second song was a similarly heartfelt piece that had guitar strums behind her powerful and airy vocals.
The crowd applauded once again as she exited the stage.
Finally, the R&B showcase winner Elana Parvis, or at least her voice, was up next.
All students could hear was Parvis’s voice calling out.
But the crowd got to its feet as Parvis strolled on stage in a sparkling white dress while the horns blared some funky notes.
The crowd clapped along to the beat of her first song and the horns supplemented and emulated her vocals.
Almost the entire front section closest to the stage had audience members out of their seats.
Most of the band members carried an air of a smooth jazz band decked in dark blazers, shoes and pants to go alongside matching black sunglasses.
Her final song, similar to the last time she performed, absolutely got a rousing reception from the audience that peaked at her pausing during the final chorus of the song where the audience went berserk.
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This article was written by Braden Simmons with contributory photography from Rachel Suggs
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