Weber State University’s KWCR Wildcat Radio is organizing KWCR Fest on April 17 from 4-8 p.m. at Wildcat Lanes, located inside of the Shepherd Union building on the Ogden campus. KWCR Fest is a music festival with a lineup consisting of local Utah bands.
The bands taking the stage for KWCR Fest are Backhand, Poolhouse, Mopsy, Levelor, Vaseline the Band and Citrus. KWCR Fest takes place once every school year. Isaac Tanner, the live events engineer for KWCR, said that the event gives them a reason to host local music groups.
“It’s just a great excuse honestly to have a big social event with a bunch of local bands and put on great music,” Tanner said.
The first KWCR Fest was held in 2022. Tanner has seen the festival grow more each year.
Planning for KWCR Fest provides challenges for the KWCR Team including scheduling, venue booking and equipment issues.
“We did have to do a last-minute board swap, you know, like a mixing board,” Tanner said. “I had someone plug it in and I didn’t think to tell them to check the voltage on the plug. So we slightly fried it and we had to swap one out last second.”
KWCR has hosted all the bands attending the fest on its “In the Fish Bowl” mini-concert series. Fish bowl concerts are a two part show. The show starts by interviewing the featured band and they end with the band giving a live performance.
Tanner said that the concert series has helped the KWCR team be better prepared for KWCR Fest.
The most recent fishbowl show featured the band Poolhouse and Tanner said it was a success.
“They were great to work with, very relaxed, very chill, but like, a lot of energy in the sound,” Tanner said.
The next “In The Fishbowl” concert will be on April 4 at 6 p.m., featuring the band Levelor. Tanner said that KWCR wants the fishbowl shows to help provide exposure for the upcoming KWCR Fest. Attendees of KWCR Fest will be able to listen to live music, go bowling and socialize.
“I think there’s something for everyone at KWCR Fest.” Tanner said, “If you like music, you can come for the music. If you just want to go bowling and get some merch and socialize with people around the local community, it’s a great event for that as well.”
