Associated Student Inc. (ASI) welcomed students with indie pop artist Landon Conrath with Cal Poly alum Cherry Blonde as an opener at the University Union Plaza on Sept. 22.
Even though not officially a part of Cal Poly’s Week of Welcome, ASI advertised this event to incoming students and orientation leaders. Roughly 45 students attended.
Since debuting in 2020, Conrath has garnered over 11,000 followers on Instagram and 587,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The Minnesota native recently embarked on his nationwide tour, “Employee of the Year,” on Sept. 27.
In Conrath’s set of 24 songs, he featured his newest single, “Doomsday,” from his upcoming album, “Employee of the Year,” towards the end of his set.
“I just love coming out, listening to music and supporting these underground artists that make good music,” said April Clark, English freshman, fellow singer and guitarist. “Musicians got to support musicians.”
Blonde began his set around 7:20 p.m. followed by Conrath. Former lead singer of local band Honeyboys, Blonde, is releasing his fourth single, “Stone Cold Killa” Oct. 9.
In addition to playing some of his unreleased songs, Blonde played covers of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck Babe” and Cherub’s “Doses and Mimosas,” both of which earned enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
“This was a super last-minute show addition for us,” Conrath said to the crowd from the stage. “College shows are always super fun.”
Katie Pierce, student manager for ASI events and the musical entertainment coordinator for this event, hopes this event was a great welcome back to students.
“[This concert was] something fun to do to welcome these students to campus [and] show them that [Cal Poly] is a fun space,” Pierce said.
