Potential Novelty and The Loose Associates opened for BEE! The Band at GoDance studio in downtown Goshen this past weekend.

The crowd was filled with Goshen College students and both bands found themselves thriving off their hometown roots.

“Being back … it’s always fun to be playing in Goshen,” said Isaac Fisher ‘23 and BEE! band member. “Where we got our start in front of people who were there from the start and supporting us from the start.”

The event took place over the span of three hours.

“I think it went well,” said Jocsan Barahona Rosales, a junior music and theater double major and Potential Novelty band member. “People really seem to enjoy our music, and not only that, but we also got to enjoy music from Loose Associates and from BEE! the Band. It was a really big step in our career because this is the first time that we’ve performed outside of the Goshen College campus.”

Potential Novelty is a band made up of current GC students Meredith Blossom at bass, Jocsan Barahona Rosales on vocals, Dontaye Albert on drums, Fatima Zahara on vocals and Matthew Dyck on guitar, who is currently gone on SST in Ecuador.

BEE! was formed in October of 2021 and has been steadily playing gigs ever since. The band is made up of Evan Krabill, Birch Baer, Evan Judson and Isaac Fisher, with three of the four band members being GC graduates.

“They are some of the most energetic people,” said Fisher. “seeing Dontaye and Phil just up there dancing and everybody else really bringing the hype … it’s a lot of fun.”

BEE! The Band started their Saturday with a live performance for the Globe Music Presents on 91.1 The Globe for the second time before performing that same night. Both the live studio performance and live concert had an increase in the “production value” according to Seth Smith Kauffman, a junior communication major and audio engineer for the Globe.

There was a lasting impression on the crowd and the energy was alive and well.

“BEE! The Band just kind of brings this energy to, especially the Goshen College crowd,” said Smith Kauffman, “which is like ‘ohh, we know some of these guys on stage and they make good music.’ And so it’s easier to relate with them and have a good time.”

With reporting by Phillip Witmer-Rich