Orange Crush rolls back the years Midd students show up to dance to favorite '80s cover band

Author: Matt Kunzweiler







The '80s cover band Orange Crush took to the stage of the McCullough Social Space last Thursday night, inviting hordes of retro-clad students to crowd onto the humid, confused and notorious dance floor. The scene was a claustrophobic's nightmare but the ideal situation for anyone with a flare for '80s pop hits and that unmistakable McCullough atmosphere. With an unexpected push from someone in the crowd, you might suddenly find yourself dancing with a random nearby student who, chances are, will not really mind.

At Middlebury College, Orange Crush is in its element. By delivering sing-along-worthy hits from the decade Midd students have fetishized - and delivering these hits with rapid-fire pace - it is no wonder that "students who keep saying they'll stay for 'one more song' almost always end up staying until the show is over," as Tim Bellis '06 said. He continued, "They really know how to play to the crowd."

Orange Crush is in tune with what the Middlebury students want to hear, and frontman Scott Lawson makes this apparent by creating a sense of presence and responsiveness unrivaled by most campus bands. Many students feel as though he is representing the audience and he does this with an air of affability. At the beginning of every song, you can hear the audience cheering as they recognize the intro to a favorite hit.

The musicianship is solid, but this can be lost on the masses, who, drunken, giddy and festive, are more excited about the atmosphere than the band's technical skill. And many students come for this atmosphere more than anything else. The music is easy to dance to. The audience is filled with a variety of students - those who come to dance, those who come to see the show, those who came for a combination of the above reasons and those who have no idea how or why they got there.

It is obvious that Middlebury students have an obsession with '80s music, and because Orange Crush made its appearance on the first night of the three-day Winter Carnival weekend, the vibe was overwhelmingly energetic. People came to have fun and most succeeded - there was so much exuberance in the crowd that if the band, after playing "Tainted Love," told the students to riot, they would have smilingly obliged.

The popular band has consistently packed its Middlebury venues - which included Ross dining hall and McCullough - with their semesterly appearances. But there are students whose interest has waned due to the College's incessant booking of the band. Suzanne Manugian '06.5 admitted, after claiming to have been "Orange Crushed-out," "I showed up to the concert as a joke." And many others who exhibited similar symptoms of being "Crushed-out" decided to avoid the predictable chaos of the Thursday show.

But that predictable chaos is also responsible for attracting so many students to the high-energy shows. The atmosphere is guaranteed. And many embrace it with open arms, sideways pony tails and track suits.

"Orange Crush always saves their best anthems until the end," said Bellis, so when most students leave at the end of the show, they're still hungry for more - and for another excuse to bust out the neon.