On Oct. 21, live from Los Angeles, the all-female group The Aces took the stage and performed for a virtual audience.
The concert began at 9 p.m., where the group performed 13 of 14 songs off their newest album, “Under My Influence”. The band features sisters Cristal and Alisa Ramirez, as well as McKenna Petty and Katie Henderson.
This event was the third in the series of ETSU’s Five Night Concert and Comedy Festival. According to Kaley Daniel, an ETSU Student Organizations graduate assistant, there was a 3% increase in attendance from the previous show in the series.
Through the Looped Live virtual venue, students could interact with some of the other universities in the universal viewing room like the State University of New York College at Oneonta, the College of New Jersey and Tennessee Tech University. Daniel contributed this virtual interaction to being a way students could feel more connected.
“I think that makes it pretty cool and there are a lot more conversations happening on that one,” said Daniel. “You can hear the music, yes, but then you can also make that connection with other students that are outside of ETSU, and that is something that we are kind of lacking right now with all the COVID-19 protocols.”
Some of the songs performed off their album included “Daydream”, “Going Home” and their latest single, “Kelly”. The hour-long event was rounded off with a Q&A session, answering fan questions from around the country. In the session they talked about working their way up in popularity from a young age.
“I think getting started as a band in Utah was actually really beneficial for us because Utah is such a music town, especially where we are from in the county,” lead vocalist and guitarist Cristal Ramirez said. “There were a lot of opportunities to play on local stages and kind of just like come up within the local scene which then helped us go from a national level into a global level.”
They discussed the importance of being a female quartet, as well as how their bond has grown since the beginning when they were once called “The Blue Aces” back in 2012.
“The last couple years we have been non-stop on tour,” said band member Katie Henderson. “I have spent more time with you guys that I have with my own family. I think that is why we put our relationships first because we spend more time together than with anyone else.”
The fourth special of the Five Night Concert and Comedy Festival will be Oct. 28, starring Jonathan Van Ness of the Netflix hit series “Queer Eye”. Students can register at loopedlive.com with their ETSU email to reserve a viewing spot.
