By Ty Quirk
On the 23rd of January, right before the massive snowstorm came knocking on New England’s door, Haunting Titans, a band hailing from New Haven, Connecticut, came to Western New England to share their music with the Western New England audience.
Haunting Titans was not the original plan for the concert. According to WNEK Station Manager Garren Nordquist, the event was initially supposed to be something a little different. “We had a two-band bill lined up before, [but] both bands dropped over winter break,” Nordquist says. “Then Alex [Russo] found [Haunting] Titans, and they were great to work with and agreed on short notice.”
Haunting Titans was formed in 2017. “It was a brainchild of Sean Beirne, who unfortunately passed away shortly after,” says the Haunting Titans Instagram page. “It has transformed and grown a lot since then.” It turns out that there was a really special reason they decided to come: “…we have been on a break to write and record, [and] we took the date as it fell on Sarah’s birthday.” Sarah Murphy, who has been with the band since the start, is the band’s lead singer. And everyone, both on stage and in the audience, seemed to love the entire event.
“I really enjoyed it!” Michael Pedro, one of the attendees, said. “I thought the band did fantastic, and the DJ sets were really good too.”
“It was a good experience. I enjoyed the music and getting to talk with the band. They are very chill,” said Reyez Hangsleben, one of the photographers at the concert. “I will attend another one, and it is nice to meet other people who don’t mind free photos since they tag me and give me the proper shout-outs when posting.”
If you missed the Haunting Titans concert, no worries! They will still be performing in the Connecticut area. To follow their journey, follow them on their Instagram or Facebook under the handle @hauntingtitans.
WNEK’s next event will be the 50th Anniversary Dance Party, where alumni and current students will be DJing your favorite songs. WNEK Director of Shows, Jake Lavallee, suggested that the event will be an epic synopsis of the institution’s history at Western New England. “People should come to the WNEK 50th Dance Party because it’s a celebration of not just the campus radio station but the history of the school. To kick off the 50th anniversary of the student run radio station, we are celebrating with a huge dance party and it’s celebrating everyone who has gone through or is currently in WNEK … so if you just love music, have a friend in WNEK or are in WNEK yourself, it’s a huge celebration of how far the campus has come with the radio.”
The 50th Anniversary Dance Party will be on February 20th at 8 p.m. in Rivers. Come by to dance your heart out and help celebrate WNEK’s 50th Anniversary.
