Saturday night, about 100 people – students, locals and music lovers alike – braved the rain and cold to gather at 719 Clarendon Avenue. While there, they drank, smoked and danced to good music.

‘We have a really beautiful music scene here,’ said Kevin Hegedus, senior music student and front man of band Mouth’s Cradle.

Five acts performed: Battle Ave, Rapewhistle, Friendless Bummer, Stephen Babcock and Whiskey Bandit. The genres ranged from stripped-down folk to equipment-breaking noise rock, and the crowd pushed toward the stage in a mosh pit.

The Clarendon Collective put on the show. Called a collective because of the group’s community focus, the CC unifies Syracuse University’s East Campus neighborhood music scene. The loose-knit group of student musicians, promoters and friends independently produce and promote shows at house parties. They first started promoting shows last semester and have hosted at least 10 since, usually without permits.

They’re the latest group to do so, carrying on a tradition passed down by smaller student-run music associations like O, Morning Records and radio station WERW. Founder and Syracuse native David Faes, a sophomore television, radio and film major, worked at WERW as local music director. In spring 2011, he and a few friends came up with the idea while sitting in a Lawrinson dorm room.

‘There were about eight or 10 bands, and we said, ‘Why don’t we get everyone together?” Faes said.

At Saturday’s show, performers kept small talk short and focused on their music, whether it was Babcock’s pop-rock or Rapewhistle’s face-grabbing punk. Between sets, the bands quickly broke down equipment, sprinted offstage and let the next group sound-check to keep the show moving quickly.

Since CC started to promote and put on house shows, it has had five artists on its roster: Sswampzz, the Good Intentions, Christopher Baugh, Only Child and the Whiskey Bandit, all student acts. In addition to the core roster, the group puts on shows with other artists as well. Because of the group’s loose structure, Faes said they welcome everyone they can.

Since CC generally hosts shows in basements for a $3 fee that mostly goes to the artists, the atmosphere mirrors those of other house parties. The image of a basement show after midnight, illuminated by Christmas lights and a single lamp, isn’t an unusual one at SU. What makes it special is the CC’s attitude toward its performers and fans.

Friendless Bummer, a punk band with two guitarists and a drummer, played third in Saturday’s lineup. A shift in tone from the Whiskey Bandit’s one-man folk and Babcock’s John Mayer-like croon, Friendless Bummer played a loud and relentless set. They tore through overdriven guitar chords and powered through technical difficulties with the sound as well as drunken audience members stumbling over their equipment.

‘I forgot an entire verse, so then I burped a lot instead,’ Friendless Bummer front man Ben Bondy joked after an applauded performance of original song ‘Ultimate Death.’ Bondy is a sophomore in the Bandier Program for Music and Entertainment Industries.

It’s not all punk rock and sunshine, though. Despite CC’s mission and low-fi approach to promoting house shows, what they do can sometimes be risky and attract police attention. On Feb. 17, a show at Spark Art Space was broken up by the Syracuse Police Department because of noise violations. No fines or penalties came from the bust, but the group moved the show back to a house. The party at the house was broken up as well.

‘If you’re going to book house shows the right way, it can be really stressful and go really badly,’ said Jeanette Wall, general manager of WERW. Wall used to book house shows but doesn’t anymore.

Kat Smith, a sophomore advertising major who works on CC’s promotional content, said that CC liked to stay under the radar, only posting information online several days before an event.

Wall said that the breakup of the show at Spark occurred because the bands were playing after curfew. Apart from the Spark incident, the group has averted much notice.

Smith laughed it off when the police came because there were no repercussions.

‘I was like, ‘OK, well, guess the party’s over,” she said.

During the closing set of Saturday’s show, the lead singer of punk outfit Rapewhistle grabbed an audience member by the head and the two screamed together in unison. Moments like that forge a sense of community at CC shows.

For many of the show’s attendees, it was not their first time packed in a basement for a CC show. Sophomore film majorMirrah Stoller agreed to handle sound duties for Saturday’s show as a favor to her friends.

‘Whenever I’m at a Clarendon Collective show, it’s very welcoming,’ Stoller said.

While many audience members are friends and members of the bands, they’re not the only ones who show up.

‘There were some frat and sorority people, some townies and then the regular music crowd,’ Stoller said of the concert.

Moving forward, CC is expanding by promoting more shows and producing an online magazine called Bande part.

By the end of Saturday night, members of the crowd danced so much they crashed into one of the guitarists and knocked over an amp and spilled beer, mic stands and people. Bondy said that despite the minor damage, he didn’t care about the shenanigans.

‘If people want to have a good time, then cool,’ he said. ‘I got hit in the face with my mic stand like eight times, but that’s just part of playing shows and people getting rowdy.’

epvilasb@syr.edu

Published on March 27, 2012 at 12:00 pm