Hales Late Nighter, held this past Saturday at the Cat in the Cream, featured performances by Oberlin’s own MNGLW, the winner of the Cat’s Battle of the Bands, and DAISY, a Los Angeles-based R&B punk band. The event, which featured everything from face painting to bowling, is the largest event at the Cat every year.

College first-year Tabitha Bird, a manager at the Cat, helped organize the event. In the week before the show, they spent a lot of time coordinating with the bands, decorating the Cat, and setting up the different activities. 

“We had a DJ and then we had the two bands, which were our main acts,” Bird said. “Then we had face painting off in the corner, and we had the bowling lanes open and billiards down the hall. There were some little pop-up activities too; people could bring stuff if they wanted. It was kind of open for everyone.” 

Bird reported that nearly 350 people attended the event, a number only on par with Battle of the Bands and concerts featuring more popular, professional bands. Not only was the Late Nighter one of the busiest events of the year, Bird felt it also boasted one of the most engaged audiences.

“The crowd was really hype,” Bird said. “People were dancing everywhere. Lots of crowd-band interaction. I think Sehréa [N’dayu], the lead singer for MNGLW, had us all on the floor at one point. She told us to crouch and we crouched and danced, and then she told us to get back up and we stood up and danced. It was so fun.”

College first-year Max Grossman, the drummer for MNGLW, was excited to see so many people at the performance. The group’s set list included pieces by artists ranging from jazzy funk acts like Yussef Dayes and Hiatus Kaiyote to soulful vocalists like Sade and Beyoncé. 

“I was a little worried about alienating the audience by playing kind of an obscure song selection,” Grossman said. “But afterwards, a bunch of people came up to us and were so complimentary. I just had so much fun, and DAISY, the band that we opened for, was really good too. I thought they were really nice people and really talented.”