A Galentine’s Mood Maker

Music can either make or break parties. There have definitely been times where you have gone to a party and had your mood killed because the music was bad or just not your speed. Now I am aware that it is pretty obvious that music sets the mood. I am sure everyone reading this and everyone who is a music enthusiast can piece that together. However, when you stop and actually think about it in context, it is really cool. On Valentines weekend I decided to go out with my friends to a party. That was the original plan however, by the end of the night we had been to three parties, gotten multiple people’s socials, and had aching feet on the drive back. It is funny how vastly different each party was and not because of the demographic of people who attended or even the hosts of the event. They were different because the DJs set different vibes for each party.

Peak House

The first party we went to was at Peak House™, which me and my friends have trademarked because of how great those parties are (not actually). It was a UH Omega Phi Gamma party. They played so many bangers that I was honestly shocked despite being a frequent Omega partier. Whoever is the DJ for their parties never ceases to amaze me with their taste. Playing songs like “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna to “I Don’t F*ck With You” by Big Sean & E-40. The DJ definitely loved Rihanna that night because I heard “Where Have You Been”, “We Found Love in a Hopeless Place”, and many other Rihanna classics that night. We call it Peak House because the vibes are just always guaranteed to be good which I am sure is mainly because of how good the music is. Unfortunately, it was shut down early for a reason unbeknownst to me. While figuring out our next course of action, we ran into some girls visiting from UTSA.

Outdoor Frat Function

After exchanging socials and compliments they told us about another party being hosted by the UH Kappa Sigma Pi-Epsilon fraternity. We had never been to one of their parties, or even knew who they were, but alas the night was still young. We show up and honestly if it weren’t for the random girls I met and made plans to go to Vietnam with, I probably would’ve wanted to leave within the first 10 minutes of us arriving. The music was not very cohesive, so it made setting the vibe of the party really difficult. We went from over-the-top EDM to underground house music. I am not saying it is bad to mix genres or anything, but it has to make sense within the context. Then after only 30 minutes of being there, it got shut down making this twice in one night that a party we were at gets shut down. Except instead of everyone leaving, we just turned off the music and tried to “be quiet” as if there weren’t at least 100 people present.

No Bystanders

So instead of standing out in the cold we decided on one last party, and my personal favorite, No Bystanders. This is a party group I have been going to since I was a freshman and honestly some of my favorite parties to attend. They are an afro fusion rave party group that truly prioritizes the experience of the attendees. Since we had been to other parties before coming to this one, we arrived about an hour before the party was supposed to end. Now typically this means people would’ve started leaving already, and it would start dying down, but really it was the opposite. We walked in, met some girls with a camera who sweetly took our pictures, and immediately started dancing. I love their ability to seamlessly mix Afrobeats, Pop, Rap, and many other genres without it ever feeling like it is random. Songs like “Show You the Money” by Wizkid to “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” by Panic at the Disco being played at the same party seems unheard of but, from what I’ve seen and call me biased, no one can do it like No Bystanders. Music is the mood setter, the thing that makes or breaks the vibe, and ultimately the thing that makes me appreciate it every single day.