Live From the ’Burg, It’s Fridays at Five

Aug. 29, AMP kicked off the semester with a live music series: Fridays at Five. Every Friday morning, a stage appeared on Sadler Terrace, waiting patiently for the arrival of its performers. As the clock approached 5 p.m., students, professors, potential new students, dog walkers, and passersby gathered around the Sadler Terrace to watch an hour of free live music and devour clouds of cotton candy.

The event series featured six performances over six weeks, featuring both student bands and outside artists. Every Friday, 1-2 bands or artists would step up to the stage to play an hour of live music. In addition to hosting the performances, AMP dusted off its carnival-style machines and offered free cotton candy and popcorn to students.

Fridays at Five had been a popular and consistent event in the past, but AMP stepped away from the recurring event for a few semesters before breaking the dry spell in the spring of 2025 with two trial runs to gauge students’ interest. The event’s long-awaited return took place Friday, Jan. 31, when indie band Coastal Club traveled from Cincinnati down to Lodge One. April 18, student-run band Plastic Island took to the stage on Sadler Terrace. After much success last spring, AMP’s Live committee and Homebrew committee began planning the fall series on a larger scale. 

To prepare for the fall 2025 semester’s itinerary, Live started emailing artists and asking for price estimates in April. The committee coordinated with outside artists Cinema Hearts, hyejin, and Acelia. To find these artists, Live considered smaller artists that they were already familiar with, in addition to bands located in Washington, D.C. or Virginia.

“It was partially like artists that we already knew, but then to find Cinema Hearts, I was kind of looking at like D.C., Virginia bands and listening to them, and again, just like cross-referencing lists of bands to be on the lookout for,” Live committee member Ava Canade ’28 said. “But then also, like, what do we think students at William and Mary want to listen to?”

Canade took a large role in contacting potential performers, including hyejin.

“So, like, hyejin, I had listened to her music on Spotify already, and I was like, ‘This could work,’” Canade said. “And I was like, ‘I'm just gonna send an email and see what happens.’”

Rather than sending out emails to outside artists, AMP’s Homebrew committee contacted performers differently. Homebrew Chair Elinor Maloney ’28 explained the committee’s goal of centering student artists.

“Homebrew is the committee of AMP that’s really focused on student talent and providing platforms to groups of students who might not otherwise have a platform,” Maloney said.

Using a combination of Instagram, Student Happenings emails, tabling, and YikYak, Homebrew advertised auditions in search of student talent. To audition to perform at a Homebrew event, students submitted a 1-2 minute video of what they planned on showcasing. In the case of Fridays at Five, Homebrew hosted The Operators, Rush Hour, Mugshot, Clockwork, and Sycamore, all of whom the committee contracted within the first few weeks of this semester. 

Both Live and Homebrew focus on hosting live entertainment, whether it is a speaker, a student dance club, a musician, a comedian, or even a magician. AMP members recognized that when giving someone a stage and a microphone, the performer can ultimately say whatever they want. Despite this concern with live performance, Canade and Maloney continued their mission of platforming both inside and outside talent.

“Ultimately, you can't control the artists, like that's not how it works,” Canade said. “I think it's just a common worry with any sort of live performer, whether that's a comedian or a music artist or like a magician or something else ... bringing anyone in, there's always that possible concern.”

Maloney elaborated on Canade’s point, concluding that AMP’s performers nonetheless have the freedom to express themselves however they wish.

“I could be nervous about people saying things, but, in the end, I can't stop them,” Maloney said about potential performers gone rogue.

Sadler Terrace, with its picnic tables and big green lawn chairs leading up the stairs to the Sadler Center, stands at the heart of student activity. With such a public venue in the middle of the bustling nature of students’ Friday evenings, Fridays at Five cultivated a special environment for both its attendees and anyone who happened to walk by.

For students like Amalia Lewis ’28, who attended all six of the shows, the environment and timing were important factors in her involvement.

“It was a very relaxing, chill environment,” Lewis said. “I enjoyed that, since it was at five o'clock on a Friday, where I don’t really have any clubs or work to do, I could just kind of listen to the music and not think about anything else I had to do.”

Adding to the environment’s appeal and marketing was the venue’s publicity and openness.

 “It kind of markets itself, being so public,” Maloney said.

Lewis also enjoyed the public nature of the performance series, which she said made it more accessible for students, even if for only a few minutes at a time.

“I think that because it’s in such a public space, not everyone knows about it, but the way they have it out there, people just kind of show up and listen for parts of it, or they're really dedicated and find their spot to watch early,” Lewis said. “And I like that, the way they lay it out. You can kind of come in and out of it, and you're not so pressured to stay.”

The final performance of the season occurred Oct. 3 during Family Weekend. With sunny skies overhead, student bands Clockwork and Sycamore performed to a large audience consisting of students, parents, siblings, and prospective students.

“The performers were good, they were playing good songs,” Maloney said. “The parents looked like they were having a good time, the students were having a good time.”

The event series served as a method of outreach into the community, bringing people together with live music, regardless of whether audience members originally planned on attending. Fridays at Five also offered outsiders a view into the College’s atmosphere and community life. Canade experienced this phenomenon while checking people into the event. 

“I went up to a girl and her dad, and I scanned their TribeLinks, and both of them were like, ‘Oh, we just finished a tour [and] we wanted to see what was going on,’” Canade said. “And they stayed for the whole hour, which was also kind of fun to see that we were getting people that weren't just students. And being able to show some of the other things that go on at William and Mary, just besides the academics.”