Kicking out the Tuesday Jams: Small turnout ends up ‘adventurous’

It was not exactly the ideal type of day for an outdoor jam session.

The afternoon was sunlit and windy, temperatures reached up to the 90s and the wind blew so strongly that hats and class papers were flying all over the place. Not the best conditions for a concert.

Nor was it the most intimate. The venue is located outside of the campus Starbucks, next to a dormitory staircase exit. Occasionally, the sound of students shutting the door would interrupt the flow of the music.

But for Addison Brown, concert chair for Tuesday Jams, the new venue is actually an improvement compared to the last venue inside Jazzman’s Cafe.

“Our turnout’s bigger here than in Jazzman’s,” Brown said. “Back there, there was very little recognition of us in that corner of the Johnson Center.”

Freshman communication major Will Clayton was the day’s performer. He played his guitar to an audience of scattered college students who were listening while tanning under the sun.

Among his repertoire were cover songs from Bon Iver, The Shins and Coldplay.

He also improvised through requests, occasionally joking about how he didn’t know all the chords. The set was less of a formal concert and more of a humorous conversation between Clayton and the audience.

Clayton himself didn’t intend to be serious. “Someone was supposed to play today, but I pathetically filled in their spot,” he said jokingly.

He also wanted some fun afternoon time. “I would’ve been watching television, so Tuesday Jams was somewhat of a more adventurous venture,” said Clayton.

Despite the hot weather and low turnout, Brown was pleased with Tuesday’s jam session. “It was great,” Brown said. “Not that big of an attendance, but that’s fine. We’ve still got kinks to work out so that we can better advertise this event.”