Union’s Student Activities Council hosted the annual homecoming concert March 7 in G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel. The concert featured Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors, Steve Moakler and Anthem Lights.
Junior Christian Studies major and SAC Co-Chairman Hunter Hawes elaborated on the planning process that goes into the homecoming concert.
“We had a committee of six students, and we just threw around ideas of artists that work well with our budget and who would appeal to the most people,” Hawes said.
From there, the committee narrows the list of artists to just those who fit into their budget and voted on the artists they liked the best.
“We had a pretty wide number of choices, and those were the three who fit best with our budget and people liked the most,” Hawes said.
“We found these three artists and put this show together totally independent of any tour that was going on because we thought these three would appeal to almost everyone at Union.”
The concert opened with Anthem Lights, a Nashville-based group that has made a name with its YouTube covers of pop songs.
Anthem Lights performed many of these covers for which the group has become so well known. They also performed several of their own original songs.
Steve Moakler, a Pittsburgh native who now calls Nashville home, played an acoustic set of crowd favorites as well as several new songs from his upcoming album “Wide Open.”
“Steve Moakler was the nicest guy,” said Hawes. “He was just so down to earth. He pulled up in his truck with just some merchandise, his guitar and his wife and was so great to hang out with. He played the grand opening of Barefoots Joe and really loves playing at Union.”
Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors closed the night with a bang. The band played an extended set with a full band as well as several of their other acoustic songs.
Holcomb grew up in Memphis and now calls Nashville home. The band has been touring since last spring in support of its latest album, “Good Light.”
“Drew Holcomb was the big name we wanted to bring in. He has roots all over Tennessee and we knew he would draw in a big crowd,” said Hawes.
Crowd participation was excellent; both Anthem Lights and Drew Holcomb invited students on stage to sing a long with them, something that surely won’t be forgotten by the students involved.
