Skidmore's Liveliest spot for music lovers
Picture yourself in a crowd of familiar faces, purple-tinted lights illuminating smiles, moshing to a heavy drum’s beat, and a nerve-tingling guitar solo. This is what a typical Thursday night looks like at Falstaffs, Skidmore’s campus “hangout,” thanks to Lively Lucy’s.
The student-run club brings in musicians from New York and beyond to perform for Skidmore students to enjoy for free — all in a welcoming and inclusive environment. At the beginning of each concert, the president of the club reminds the crowd that the event is a safe space for everyone and to treat everyone with respect.
A few examples of performers from the past who’ve since blown up are Snail Mail and Mitski. Part of the fun of the shows is anticipating whom you’ll brag about having seen before they got big. Mostly, though, everyone just loves music and is excited about the variety of genres the club supports.
Lively Lucy’s offers a wide assortment of opportunities for students to work on their personal interests relating to the music industry. Often, a Skidmore band will open for the headliners, students design posters, and a few club board members oversee all the behind-the-scenes tech.
A guest musician gets the spotlight. (Photo: Amanda Francis ’25)
Lively’s also offers fun theme nights. Earlier this academic year, there was a night of early 2000s nostalgia called “Y-2-SLAY,” a play on Y-2-K: Everyone dressed up in low-rise jeans and butterfly clips and danced to Brittney Spears. Dressing up is a tradition for the club. For the band OK Cowgirl, everyone wore western attire, and the band Grapejuice inspired a competition: Wear purple for purple grapes and green for green grapes.
Another club offering is its monthly open mic night. Students can get on stage to sing, play an instrument, perform standup, read a poem, or whatever else their minds concoct. Performers must arrive 15 minutes early to sign up and face a strict five-minute time limit due to the huge interest. Once a semester, Lively Lucy’s hosts a “What the Fork” open mic, where students are meant to be as silly and weird as possible to showcase unique talents and jokes.
Having a fun time is important to the group. For Halloween, the club put on a live “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” titled “Skiddy Horror Show,” with students playing the characters and audience members meant to dress up. The turnout was huge: Organizers had to turn down people at the door because Falstaff’s was so packed. The club also puts on a concert for Earth Day every spring and is hoping to bring back its Folk Night tradition.
With such a variety of events, it’s amazing that everything is done by a group of teens and early 20-year-olds. Club meetings typically include a debrief of the previous week’s event, then everyone votes democratically on whether to reach out to different musicians. This means that most of the heavy lifting of these events is on the shoulders of the club’s board.
The student duo Question of the Century performs their self-written folk songs. (Photo: Amanda Francis ’25)
Maddie Aikin ’23, a senior from Nashville, who is majoring in political science and minoring in anthropology and philosophy, acts as the club’s president. Maddie joined Lively Lucy’s during their first year after attending the concerts and quickly fell in love. Maddie started out as the social media manager for the club during the COVID-19 pandemic, because they “wanted to help make Lively Lucy’s accessible despite the lack of in-person events,” editing old footage of past concerts to make video recaps and involving the student body using polls and fun videos.
When she was elected president, “I bawled my eyes out,” she said. As president, they plan meetings and events, delegate tasks to board members, and book artists to come and perform. During their time as president, she’s instilled theme nights, Battle of the Bands, and brought in artists like Swordes, Mint Green, and Los Elk.
Gabby Paisner, a junior studio art major from Portland, Oregon, transferred to Skidmore as a sophomore and found the club through Skidmore’s Club Fair. As the club’s art director, Gabby makes posters, designed Lively Lucy’s logo, and has even worked on making a (temporary) tattoo sheet for the club.
“Everyone at the table was really sweet and inviting, and I really started going to events mainly because I was interested in getting to know the club members better,” Gabby said. “Lively’s is a close-knit community. Everyone on the board and in the club is so passionate about live music and creating fun, unique events for the whole school to enjoy. My Skidmore experience would be completely different without the friends I’ve met through Lively’s.”
Maddie, the club’s president, agreed, saying Lively Lucy’s “doesn’t just feel like a community, it is one.”
“Every person who comes to an event, a club meeting, or even just follows us on Instagram is a part of something bigger. We all love music, and we all love having fun. And we can only keep doing that if we keep this community safe. Lively’s has made a commitment to a safe space, and we expect y’all to do the same! You’re a part of the community, and we all have to take care of each other. Help people off the ground in the pit, be respectful at open mics, and dance your butt off to some great music!”
You can follow Lively Lucy’s on Instagram to stay updated @livelylucys!