When we asked alumni about their favorite college-year bands, the answers ran the gamut. Here is a selection:
“Janis Joplin. There were AMAZING sounds emanating from U-Hall the four years before I graduated in 1971, but she was ABSOLUTELY the best. When fans went crazy and security swarmed the stage, she famously shouted to them ‘Get the f*** off my stage,’ bringing the house down.” —Trip Lynch (Col class of ’71)
Dozens of alumni from the ’90s through the ’10s noted local outfit Dave Matthews Band, including Sara Habibian (Nurs class of ’95), who shared this memory: “I was one of the ones who got to pay $5 to see them play at Trax every Tuesday night, and Dave would have to give us rides back home to our dorms after because the buses didn’t run that late and we had no car because it was first semester of first year and my friends and I were pretty much the only people there.” David Henley (Col class of ’02) shared: “When they played Scott Stadium in Spring 2001, it was epic. Such a huge event that engrossed the whole of Grounds and the C’ville community. It was the ultimate concert of my time at UVA.” Several alumni also mentioned the Boyd Tinsley Trio, before Tinsley joined DMB.
Corks & Curls
“One day a group of us were walking near the Rotunda and we heard music on the Lawn. It was, no joke, The 5th Dimension! Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis Jr. and the others singing ‘Stoned Soul Picnic,’ ‘Wedding Bell Blues’ and such! And few ’Hoos were in attendance. What? So I’ll go with The 5th Dimension, who sang so incredibly that day for such a small audience.”
—Burt Smiley (Col class of ’70)
About 50 alumni from the mid-’70s to the late ’80s wrote in about the Skip Castro Band, including Susan Richardson Powell (Nurs class of ’84), who shared this: “Of course Skip Castro! My boyfriend (a ‘townie’ and now husband of 32 years!) was a friend of theirs so we went to see them play all the time. So much fun! My husband still has one of their original T-shirts. He won’t wear it to keep it nice. ;-)”
Corks & Curls
Several alumni from the 1960s and early ’70s enthusiastically submitted Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, the party band that played Southern fraternities for decades. Creeper and the Vi-Dells were also fraternity favorites through the 1970s. And The Casuals ft. Johnny Sportcoat was popular with students through the early ’80s.
“So hard to pick just one; ugh. I’ll pick Jimmy Buffett.”—Hena Hasan (Col class of ’89)
Corks & Curls
Several alumni from the 1950s through 1970 wrote in about jazz titan Louis Armstrong.
Listen for yourself
“Shannon Worrell.”
—Cricket Bedford (Col class of ’89) and Tim Jarrett (Col class of ’94)
“Toad the Wet Sprocket (still my favorite band today!)”
—Sara Calvarese (Col class of ’98)
“Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals at the Amphitheatre. Milo at the WXTJ Chapel Show.”
—Chase Browning (Col class of ’19)
“SGG&L (or any combination)”
—Gretchen M. Tibbits (Col class of ’89)
Several alumni from the ’70s wrote in about Charlottesville country rock band Sarsaparilla.
“The Replacements. I remember seeing them at Trax in 1986. Other favorite shows: Talking Heads (pictured, U-Hall ca. 1983); Grateful Dead (Richmond, Norfolk, Merriweather), Elvis Costello (’83); King Sunny Ade (Mem Gym ca. ’82); The Fleshtones (St. Anthony Hall ’82). Lots of great music!”—Christopher Marston (Arch class of ’86)
Corks & Curls
“Loved Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran (still do!). In 2013, my Dabney hallmate (Kathleen Hanley [Engr ’17]) and I went to see the Red Tour at JPJ where Ed was her opening act. Such a fun way to kick off my first few weeks at UVA!”
—Ashley Kate Kesler (Col class of ’17)
Mina Pirasteh
“OutKast.”
—Michelle Anne Coles (Col class of ’02)
“Wilco.”
—Jim Prosser (Col class of ’05)
“Justin Timberlake, Tove Lo or Fetty Wap.”
—Deanna Madagan (Educ class of ’17)
“Phish. And they were before and they still are, and I imagine they always will be.”
—Nicholas N. Lenderking-Brill (Col class of ’12)
“Robert Randolph.”—Jordan Moniuszko (Engr class of ’09)
Shane McCauley
The Rolling Stones had fans both in the 1960s and much later, including Rebecca Shields (Col class of ’01) and William Buchanan Dunavant (Col class of ’20)
