Tomorrow marks the final Rooftopalooza hosted by the Daytrippers, a band made up of graduating seniors Victor Vo, Mason Walker and Reagan Wilkins.
Rooftopalooza is a student concert that takes place on the rooftop of the McLean Residence Hall every semester. It became a tradition after Victor Vo and Mason Walker, who were roommates their first year at Trinity, decided to take a break from studying for finals and put on a small concert with a few of their friends on the roof of McLean.
“The first Rooftopalooza had about 10 people,” Vo said. “We all had fun and our friends wanted to do it again, so we decided to make it more official. The next semester we made flyers, bought a sound system and invited a bunch of people, and this time we had 30 or 40 people come out.”
The attendance at Rooftopalooza began to grow each semester, with the largest crowd reaching 90 people.
“It’s just a fun event that we want people to be able to go to and chill and get their mind off of life for a bit and just relax,” Vo said. “It’s very coffeeshop-esque and it’s meant to be a way to let off some steam right before finals.”
Eventually, Vo and Walker decided to invite other students to perform at Rooftopalooza to provide an additional venue for musicians and singers on campus.
Wilkins, the third member of the Daytrippers, joined the group after he transferred to Trinity his sophomore year. He became roommates with Walker, who then asked him to perform at Rooftopalooza.
“The vision behind Rooftop is that it’s sort of an alternative to the crazy party lifestyle that a lot of people get caught up in,” Wilkins said. “It’s a way for people to still come together for a night and socialize and have a good time by hearing some music and supporting Trinity talent along the way. We believe that it’s a good vision and we’ve had a lot of fun doing it.”
This year the acts who will be joining the Daytrippers are Overheard, LL JJ and Ladystacie, Ethan Valdes and Eva Patterson, Joyce Li, Caileen Tallant and Lea Watson.
Senior Ethan Valdes will be playing guitar and singing with his fiancee Eva Patterson. He has previously performed at Rooftopalooza with the Trinitones and his band Othello.
“It’s just a really positive environment for sharing music,” Valdes said. “I’m always really impressed by the amount of people who come and support their friends and then stick around to hear other acts, too. A lot of times, people who come to Rooftop stay the whole time, which is cool.”
Valdes believes that Rooftopalooza offers a unique experience for both performers and the audience.
“It’s awesome to have all these different artists come out and share their gifts because we don’t have very many opportunities to do that,” Valdes said. “You also don’t have many opportunities to go to a concert on the top of a building, so that’s a pretty cool aspect of it.”
The Daytrippers have been independently hosting Rooftopalooza for the past four years without funding or sponsorship from any campus organizations.
“When Mason and I started it, it was kind of our way of saying thanks to Trinity and to our friends,” Vo said. “It’s like a gift that we give””we’ve never done it through SGA or anything else. It’s just us giving back to the community.”
As for whether or not Rooftopalooza will continue in the future after the Daytrippers graduate, Wilkins said that the band members are unsure.
“We’ve talked about maybe other people carrying the torch, but for the perceivable future, this is the last one,” Wilkins said.
In the event of rain, the concert will be moved to the Fiesta room, but the performers are hoping for good weather.
“We’re really hoping we don’t have to move it anywhere else, because it’s called Rooftop,” Vo said.
To jam out with your fellow peers and enjoy some refreshments, join the Daytrippers at 9:07 p.m. on Friday, April 24, on the rooftop of McLean.
