On May 17, the student band called the Repercussions took to the Susie’s stage to perform their third rendition of the Den Show in front of a crowd of eager students, some of which had returned to the audience after previous years’ shows, and some of which were listening to the band for the first time. This year, the band featured the musicians Jacob Kaiser ’24, Brandon Fu ’25, Will Lucas ’24, Sinan Muratoglu ’24, Ethan Liu ’26, and Constantine Krenteras ’24. With the show starting at 8:45 p.m. and a Seniors only show at 10 p.m., the room vibrated with energy throughout the night as the band played tunes ranging from jazz standards to TV show theme music to the fan-favorite rendition of “Gravity” by John Mayer. Along with the main band, the set featured other student musicians including alumni and other bands on campus.
The Repercussions was formed as a small jazz ensemble in 2022, and first performed the Den Show as a way to showcase a solo musician. Last year, it was developed into a collaborative show, inviting musicians from around campus to perform with the band to sing solo music with instrumentals. Similarly, this year’s show featured collaborative works with students, including alumni, and also invited other ensembles to have their own sets in between pieces. Kaiser, a member of the Repercussions who had performed at all three Den Shows, gave insight into the developments the show underwent throughout the years.
“We did this year’s Den Show because it’s just been so fun. The first Den Show was two years ago and there was a guitarist and songwriter at the time who wanted to showcase some of his music, so we got a group together. Last year, we redid it but centered it around not just one musician, but people from all over campus and we got a good reception. This year we did a similar thing, [but it] was less of a production compared to last year, which was more stylistically ambitious. This year was about vibing with tunes,” said Kaiser
Much of the audience was comprised of students who had returned after watching previous years’ shows. From waving phone flashlights during emotional songs to standing up and clapping during upbeat tunes, the show encouraged the audience to interact with the music being created on stage. Lily Liu ’26 alluded to the sense of community and strong bonds she saw between the members of the audience and the band. Being the second Den Show she’s watched, Liu enjoyed the continued light-hearted and entertaining nature of the show.
“I decided to come to the Den Show because last year’s [Den Show] was a blast. I specifically remember Sebastian Altomare [’23’s] performance of the song ‘Gravity.’ The moment the first words of ‘Gravity’ came out of his mouth, the entire room was captivated and was singing along. It was a really special moment because, as a freshman last year, the Den Show really showed me how closely knit the campus community is. The audience all really got into the songs and it brought out a softer side in people, really showing the number of special bonds in this community,” said Liu.
During the senior show, alumni Altomare, a bassist and singer, returned to campus to perform with the band during the Senior show, singing “Gravity” once more as a homage to the standing tradition of his piano-vocal performance of the song for the past shows. Sitting in as an audience member and also performing, Altomare noted the energy he felt from the community through reconnecting with his friends and seeing everyone in the audience continue to cheer on the band throughout the years.
“I just had to come back for this year, it gets bigger and better every year. I sang ‘Gravity’ by John Mayer again which I had done last year. I met so many old friends and that’s really the best thing about the Den Show. It’s not the great music or the great performances, it’s everyone cheering everyone on. A lot of Seniors in the band are graduating but I hope they keep doing [the show]. It was so fun to see them succeed in the Den Show again and to have that feeling of playing with this band again,” said Altomare.
After three successful runs of the Den Show, many of the original members of the Repercussions are graduating from Andover. Despite this, Kaiser hopes that the Den Show continues to carry on through new performers or new ensembles. Serving as a unique space for musicians to present collaborative performances and a place where alumni could return to campus to celebrate their past performances, Kaiser stresses the importance of the Den Show carrying on.
“The Repercussions has kind of been a loose idea for the past three years. The idea has always been to play jazz, pop, fusion… and try to perform as much as possible on campus. Whether or not the Repercussions continues is up for debate. I don’t think it will because original members won’t be there anymore and there are other bands on campus. But I don’t think that’s important. I think that there absolutely should be a Den Show continuing. There aren’t a lot of opportunities to perform on campus that really showcase everyone in a collaborative way. The student recitals in Graves [Hall], those are still mostly solos… [and] it’s never a collaborative effort, but every year the Den Show has really been founded upon bringing as many voices and instruments into the equation as possible… I’m almost certain that the Den Show will continue on, and I really do hope it does,” said Kaiser.
