By Claudia Mintz

Last Thursday night college radio station WERW kicked off their 2017/2018 season in Schine Underground with a concert headlined by popular alt-rock band LVL UP and SU’s own The Wisconaut.

With a flare of denim and oversized tees, The Wisconaut started the night on a high note. Frontman and SU junior Andrew Idarraga brought charm and vibrancy to the venue, while the rest of the band's members proved they were no strangers to the stage. Evan Pacheco was on drums, Andy Horvath and Isaac Silverman played electric guitar, PJ Walshe played the keys and Gavin Blasier brought the bass. Idarraga continuously climbed up the barriers that separated him from the howling audience. At one point, he even jumped into the crowd and turned it into a mosh pit, while Horvath ended up on his back with a shredding guitar solo.

The audience was even more amped up as LVL UP took the stage. Members Mike Caridi, Dave Benton, Nick Corbo and Greg Rutkin engaged with the crowd, cracking jokes and asking for song suggestions. “No one was on their phones. If they were, they were taking video,” said Dylan Hardin and Zach Robinson, freshmen at SU.

‘Cuse student Nick Bellitti, who does music acquisition for WERW, explained the organization's motivation behind booking The Wisconaut and LVL UP. “Andrew is poppin off right now and [he's] doing a lot of shows. This was a good time to have him before he gets big,” Belliti says, “Indie is an underrepresented genre on campus. The WERW launch party is a celebration and gives back to the indie community.”

Be sure to tune into WERW Radio ( www.werwradio.com or on the RadioFX app) to support your local student DJs.