Even during a pandemic, the show must go on.
Although most students aren’t on campus, Last Day of Classes festivities will still take place—virtually, culminating in a Zoom concert headlined by Two Friends, according to a Saturday afternoon announcement from Duke University Union.
A duo consisting of Eli Sones and Matthew Halper, Two Friends played one of their first concerts at Duke in 2013 and later returned to Durham for a performance at Shooters II Saloon in 2017. The two are known for both their individual song remixes and Big Bootie Mixes—hour-long mashups that combine a wide variety of music, from rock to rap, with occasional sound bites interspersed.
“We're looking forward to this event and we hope that it can bring the community together like LDOC always does, even if it looks a little different this year,” LDOC Committee Co-Chair Catherine Oliver, a junior, wrote in an email.
Two Friends was one of the artists who would have headlined an in-person LDOC, she added.
The concert will start at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time and be held via Zoom as a webinar, Oliver explained, meaning students will be able to see Two Friends and use the chat feature, but they’ll be unable to turn on their own cameras. Only authenticated Duke-linked Zoom accounts will be able to join, and the Office of Information Technology has been “working tirelessly” to iron out the details, she said.
Both from Los Angeles, Two Friends was billed as one of the most “underrated” artists in 2017 by the Chainsmokers. The two became friends in seventh grade and would begin experimenting with DJing and making music the summer after high school, eventually performing their first shows in junior and senior year of college.
Although they parted ways when Sones went to Vanderbilt University and Halper to Stanford University, the two friends continued talking and playing around with music. After graduating in 2015, they began to tour more seriously.
“We come from a background of being actual best friends, so it never feels like we’re business partners or co-workers where we need to keep everything PC,” Sones told The Chronicle last year. “We know each other so well that we get in such a groove working together.”
Logan, an artist with the Duke-affiliated Small Town Records label, will open the show. A musician from Winston-Salem, N.C., she creates her music by taking elements from jazz, R&B and electronic music, according to her STR page.
The day will also feature virtual events such as Moments of Mindfulness, as well as other programming through DUU committees and Duke Recreation. A full schedule will be available Monday, Oliver wrote.
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