When one thinks of Guilford’s community center by the south and north apartments, they probably would not imagine narrowly avoiding an elbow careening into their face in the midst of a mosh pit, punk blaring in the background. But on Friday, Oct. 4, the community center was host to a similar scene. WQFS put on a concert with music by UNCG bands Black Haus and Reliably Bad Band. The evening’s theme was “Pastel Goth,” with lace and paper stars reminiscent of your most melancholy high school prom adorning the walls. 

Senior and WQFS Promotions Manager Addie Ronis aided in planning the concert. In previous years, it was a relatively common occurrence for WQFS-hosted concerts to take place in theme houses like the Pines. However, since the closure of the theme houses, it’s been a necessity to find other venues for concerts.

“There is a feeling of freedom and safety that I get from experiencing live music and I think that the environment of those homes matched that feeling,” Ronis. “The community center is a great place for live music but, because it is more monitored by the school, it can be difficult to get that same feeling students could get in theme houses.”

Black Haus opened the concert with a hip-hop and punk-influenced bang. Referring to themselves as an “unapologetically black band,” Black Haus’s frenetic music is a shot of freshness in a city otherwise populated by predominately-white bands.

Senior Annika Norris saw both bands for the first time that evening, and was particularly impressed by Black Haus’s music. She enjoyed seeing an eclectic group of people at the concert. 

“The turnout was pretty good. It was interesting to see people from UNCG and people who were just straight-up real adults there,” Norris said. 

Junior Ian Gordon also found Black Haus to be the highlight of the event.

“(The concert) was a blast. I had a great time,” Gordon said. “There were people moshing. (Black Haus) was super cool; they had a great sound and a great look. At that concert, there were just good vibes. Nothing else.”

If Black Haus’s music is perfect for moshing, Reliably Bad Band is the ideal sing-along band. One of the band’s closing songs was an energetic rendition of CeeLo Green’s “F*ck You” which had audience members chiming in to sing the chorus. 

“Black Haus and Reliably Bad Band are so cool because they are local bands, a lot of them are still students just like us, and they bring some kind of magical energy that a lot of the bigger artists we hire don’t bring,” Ronis said. “They’ll stick around and mingle with Guilford students and hang out with us after the show is over.”

2020 will be the radio station’s 50th anniversary. WQFS will be hosting a variety of different programming next semester in celebration. 

“We’re hoping to have a combination of live music, live podcasting sessions, talks, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff over the course of a few days,” Ronis said. “We have a crazy list of musicians we’ll be reaching out to for that event. I would probably pass out if we could get Tank and the Bangas to come (perform), but we like to shoot for the stars.”

Editor’s note: This story originally was published in Volume 106, Issue 2 of The Guilfordian on Oct. 11 2019.