photos and story by Chloe Ekberg

Driving through the streets of Benson on Friday during Jake’s Block Party, I could hear the buzz of conversation. Through it arose the “whoas” of Twinsmith, followed in suit by See Through Dresses, Oqoua, Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship and Universe Contest.

As they opened the concert, Twinsmith’s Jordan Smith wished his mom a happy birthday. The band's guitar and bass combined felt like an earthquake, a rumbling feeling to the bone. Second onstage, See Through Dresses reminded me of a soundtrack I would bring during a long road trip winding through Nebraska dirt roads. Sara Bertuldo and Matt Carroll’s vocals complemented each other like Bonnie and Clyde, minus the bank robbing.

Listening to Oquoa was like spreading creamy peanut butter onto a piece of grain bread. The peanut butter is the smooth jazzy sound, and the grain in the bread are the chunks of hard electric sound scattered throughout their performance.

Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship then beamed their rock as lead vocalist Andrew Gustafson twisted wildly and interacted with the audience.

Headlining the show, Lincoln natives Universe Contest reserved the space in front of the stage for interpretive dancers, a majority of them women, posed as acrobats and painters dressed in wild garb.

Members of Universe Contest appeared on stage with only pants on, and their bodies were slathered with ruby red lipstick. The band produced hypnotic quakes themselves, tempting many of the concertgoers to break out into crazed dancing.

See more photos from the psychedelic night here:

Chloe Ekberg is a Hear Nebraska multimedia intern. Shout out to Mojo and the Mofos for their swift jazzy tunes during the block party. Reach her at chloee@hearnebraska.org.