Sophomore summer marks a time of change for student bands. The Class of 2024 has graduated, while most of the Classes of 2025 and 2027 are off campus — leaving the sophomores to find replacements, operate without a member or two or take a pause altogether. Some sophomores have even used newfound free time to found a band, like Kabir Mehra ’26, who started the indie rock band Day Drooler.
From Day Drooler’s original album “Bring Back the Beatles” to the veteran band Tightrope’s rendition of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” — performed last Saturday, July 20, at Gamma Delta Chi fraternity — students can look forward to songs from both new and returning student bands this summer.
Sstudents shared their perspectives on bands at Dartmouth, the degree of collaboration between student musicians and the significance of live music.
With a Little Help from My Bandmates: New Sophomore Summer Bands
Mehra said that performing the electric guitar and vocals for Read Receipts — winner of the 2024 Battle of the Bands competition — was “a dream come true.” After moving to England from India at the beginning of high school, Mehra picked up the guitar to learn Vance Joy’s “Riptide” and “fell in love with it.”
Mehra, on rhythm and vocals, is joined in Day Drooler by two fellow Read Receipts members — Nathan McAllister ’25 on saxophone and Jackson Yassin ’26 on lead guitar — as well as Grant Foley ’25 on drums and Ian Glick ’26 on bass.
A friend of Mehra’s, Maisie Pike ’26, was featured on album art for “Bring Back the Beatles,” a three-song Day Drooler EP composed by Mehra. In addition to Mehra’s role in Day Drooler, he and Pike perform original music together with Lucas Filippone ’26 — also a member of the student band Shark — at Umpleby’s Bakery & Café on Wednesdays from 1-2 p.m.
The Continuing Story Of Old Bands
Many bands had to bid farewell to graduating seniors in the spring. Tightrope, a band that plays an “eclectic” catalog of classic rock and pop songs, lost two graduating seniors — leading them to adapt through “little switches” in membership, according to lead singer Alysha Summerville ’26.
In search of two guitarists to fill empty spots for the summer, Tightrope reached out to two sophomore musicians who members had seen perform in other campus bands.
Conversations with the two guitarists, Bo Farnell ’26 and Yassin, progressed into jam sessions, which ultimately led to performing together at gigs.
“Bands on campus tend to be really good friends with at least part of every other band because we do so much coordination,” Summerville said. “A lot of people know each other from music classes. So we have all these cool connections and we reached out to two different [members of the Class of 2026] that we know that play guitar.”
According to Summerville, Tightrope had seen both guitarists play on campus. The band had played with Farnell before — when he filled in for a couple of rehearsals in anticipation of a gig that ended up not requiring a substitute — and asked if he was willing to play shows in the summer. Friends through Dartmouth’s Coast Jazz Orchestra, PJ Griffiths ’26, the band’s drummer, reached out to Yassin in the middle of spring term to ask if he would like to perform with Tightrope.
“We were sending feelers out,” Summerville added. “By the time we went into the break between spring and summer, we had a group chat with all of us, and we were talking about how we might envision doing shows.”
Cat Jewitt ’26 said she is a “huge fan” of Tightrope and noted the “evolution” of the band during sophomore summer.
“It’s nice to see [new] band members join [who are] also my friends, like Bo coming from Shark for Tightrope and doing both,” she said.
She added that it has been “nice” to see the bands “excited to be performing alongside each other.”
“It’s not band versus band,” she added.
All You Need Is Gigs
The warm weather invigorates energetic crowds and introduces outdoor performance spaces unavailable during the cold Hanover winters.
Still, Mehra — who oversees the coordination of gigs for Day Drooler — said it is sometimes “not easy” to find gigs, due to fewer events happening on campus. Nonetheless, Day Drooler has an upcoming gig at Sawtooth Bar & Kitchen, in addition to future performances at fraternities and formals. Day Drooler will be playing at Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity on Aug. 2, Mehra said.
Summerville said Tightrope has a normal number of gigs scheduled this summer, citing close coordination with the sophomore summer social chairs of Greek houses as making up for the limited number of campus events.
“Entering into the summer, it seems like either [sophomores] who know us are now the socials and are booking bands, or previous socials have told [sophomores] who are entering those positions about us,” Summerville said. “And so we’ve been getting texts from our friends, and also people who have booked us in the past to play for them.”
She added that Tightrope has plans for at least five shows this term — the same number as a normal term.
Tightrope played on July 20 at Gamma Delta Chi fraternity, while Shark performed the same night at Psi Upsilon fraternity. According to Jewitt, who went to see both performances, live music is a “nice change of pace to a traditional intense dance scene.” Pike said that she and Mehra were also “in the front row” of Shark’s performance. Shark’s next gig is Aug. 2 at Bones Gate fraternity.
Tightrope’s new summer covers such as “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan made a lasting impression, alongside setlist staples like Fleetwood Mac, according to Jewitt.
“I like that they have a variety,” she added.
Tightrope’s next two gigs are July 26 at Phi Delta Alpha fraternity at 5:30 p.m. and Aug. 9 at Psi Upsilon fraternity at 11 p.m., with more performances to come.
“Because we’re all in the same year, I think it’ll bring a special kind of excitement for the audience and for us,” Summerville said.
According to Jewitt, the feeling is mutual from the audience’s perspective.
“The fact that people are up there performing music for us is so special,” she said. “The fact that it’s my friends is even more special.”
In addition to their upcoming shows, Day Drooler is looking beyond live summer gigs to recorded originals.
“The plan is to record an EP and see what happens in the studio,” Mehra said.
