In addition to commencement ceremonies, CSU’s past celebrations of seniors have included commencement concerts and week-long activities, called Senior Week. This year, the local bars, taverns and live music venues more than making up for a lack of festivities on campus.
For those seeking a night full of rambunctious booty-shaking, Hodi’s Half Note is the place for the end of the year concert. The show will feature two up-and-coming Fort Collins bands: Punch Drunk Munky Funk (PDMF) and See to Center as well as complimentary catering from Cheba Hut and The Colorado Room, while supplies last.
The Unofficial Graduation Get Down starts at 8 pm, and ticket prices range from $5 pre-sales to $8 on the day of the show. Click here to purchase tickets.
PDMF, once a seven-piece supergroup at their debut three years ago, has gradually played the local music scene with multiple shows at The Aggie to being support for several artists at the Mishawaka Amphitheatre, a venue they will play again this summer with Wookiefoot. Throughout that time, the group has stripped down to a harmonious trio made up of drummer/vocalist, Michelle Pietrafitta, bassist/vocalist, Julian Rosse and guitarist, Alex Boivin. All agree that becoming a trio has allowed them to more easily rehearse and experiment with other genres.
Last year, they headlined Hodi’s on the weekend of graduation on May 15th with royGbiv. The success of that show, Pietrafitta says, prompted them to once again align a concert with CSU’s finals week to be more student-oriented.
“Everybody’s got their own graduation parties… but I don’t think any other music venues are throwing a graduation party,” Pietrafitta said. For this special occasion, they plan to give it a secretive musical theme, featuring many songs specific to this performance only. “It’s such a good excuse to get silly and have a party, [and] we put together this theme so we’re learning all these ridiculous songs that we would never play otherwise.”
“You’re going to hear funk, of course. You’re gonna hear rock, you’re gonna hear some heavier rock, you’re gonna hear jazz, you’re gonna hear latin, you’re gonna hear dance music, you’re going to hear a lot of hip-hop,” Boivin elaborated. “We can go anywhere at anytime.”
Friends and support band, See to Center, describe themselves as an electronically-backed, organic, indie rock band. The main songwriter, Chris Carter, plays guitar, sings and runs the backing beat tracks and synths on his computer. John Wiberg accompanies with hand drums and shakers, while his brother Rob Wiberg rocks the bass.
“If Daft Punk and Rusted Root had a beautiful child, with a hint of X Ambassadors, that’s See to Center,” John said. Carter’s individual style inspired much of their repertoire, which intentionally spreads across a variety of genres. Fitting into a niche or sub-genre was never the plan.
By incorporating many influences, the group hopes to have a wide appeal and bring a fresh atmosphere to any audience, whether it’s for college students or families.
