Venues keep city’s music scene growing

Junior Tom Kludt makes it a point to attend a live music performance in Vermillion at least once every month.

Kludt said the Vermillion music scene boasts a variety of venues that present opportunities to attend live music performances on a weekly basis. His favorite place, The Washington Visual Arts Center, has improved the music choices in Vermillion significantly in the past year hosting artists from an assortment of genres including hip-hop, folk, and acoustic.

“Vermillion has one of the best music scenes in South Dakota,” Kludt said. “The scene has improved a lot since I’ve been here. Now that there’s a legitimate venue, shows are being held far more regularly and they bring in an assortment of different music.”

Senior Cody Raterman said the scene has been picking up more lately with more bands coming out of USD and downtown venues offering more live music. Raziel’s, a smoke-free downtown bar and grill, offers free live music performances  for all ages every week along with great food and a fun atmosphere, Raterman said.

“It’s very welcoming,” Raterman said. “It’s one of the nicer restaurants in town and it caters to the art crowd. There’s also visual arts and fine arts, and at the same time you can get a pop and a beer.”

Kludt said Raziel’s is also one of his favorite locations downtown that is guaranteed to have music multiple times a week.

“Raziel’s is an outstanding venue with a great atmosphere and a good setting,” Kludt said. “I think they have done an outstanding job with providing music every week.”

Raterman said downtown has different venues such as Maya Jane’s, The Eagles Club and The Varsity. He enjoys Maya Jane’s free pool on Tuesday and their welcoming staff. The Eagles Club provides a larger venue for bigger performances and typically have a cover charge. Also, The Varsity’s basement has a great stage to host live performances. The downtown area by itself offers a range of musical performances, Raterman said.

“If there’s nothing going on a Friday night, there’s nothing better to do than to go to a show downtown,” Raterman said.

Raterman said the Muenster University Center also proves to be a good venue for live music. Hosting bands like Quietdrive recently and having entertainers in the pit lounge gives the MUC a good atmosphere, Raterman said.

Sophomore Erika Menning enjoys the flexibility she has in the MUC to listen to music and study whenever there are live performers in the pit lounge.

“I’ve seen a lot of alternative guitarists and it’s really laid back,” Menning said. “It’s a good studying environment because you can listen as much as you want to or you can just relax. It gives the MUC more of a coffee shop feel and it’s not so stuffy.”

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