There is nothing like live music to bring friends and strangers together. The Campus Activities Team started its Live Music Thursday with a bang, inviting Nashville based indie rock band Vacation Manor to open the semester. 

Vacation Manor is a three-piece indie rock band from Nashville, TN, with Nathan Towles on lead vocals and guitar, Dane Spearman on bass, Cole Young on drums and guest guitarist Jason Wozniak. The band opened with its song “Falling Back” from its EP “Girl, Say” which they released in March 2016. The band went on to play an exciting set, full of songs off its EP, covers of oldies, like Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” and some brand new unreleased music. The atmosphere of the Cyber Lounge allowed for an intimate musical experience in which the band and the audience were able to connect with each other without any of the barriers that exist at more conventional venues. The set was upbeat and fun, engaging the audience in catchy tunes as well as melancholy jams that were relatable and enjoyable to all. 

While watching Vacation Manor perform, it was almost impossible not to have a good time. The band was clearly enjoying its time playing together, stopping a couple times between songs to joke with each other. 

Wozniak, the guitarist playing with the band for its Winter Tour kept Towles on track with the order of its ever-changing set list, which led to joking and showed the audience how close this group of guys are and made the feeling of watching them do what they love together that much more enjoyable.

In speaking with Towles after the show, he explained the band’s sound. “I mean in the first year we wrote the first EP,” Towles said. “But I think that’s something you are kind of always doing. I feel like we’re finding our more mature sound now.” 

Towles does a majority of the songwriting for the group. On this specific tour, the band welcomed a friend, Jason, to play lead guitar while Towles played rhythm. 

“I met [Wozniak] at an Eclipse party in Nashville,” Towles said. “We just hit it off and he played a show with us in Nashville back in September. But then, we decided to do this tour and we needed a guitar player, so he came out with us.” 

The band plans to continue recording after they wrap up its Winter Tour in Lynchburg, VA on Feb. 3. Towles said that the group is testing out new songs throughout the tour and are heading out to record in May. Vacation Manor hopes to have a new EP out around summertime.

CAT’s Live Music Thursday’s will continue on Thursday, Feb. 1, with a performance from Juice, a seven-piece band from Boston.