Fraternity court felt almost introspective on Sunday night, with the only sounds outside being an occasional car and the melting snow.
Inside of St. Anthony Hall (a co-ed arts and literary fraternity, formally known as Delta Psi Xi), the audience for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s secret show completely filled the house's living room, spilling from couches and chairs onto the floor as fraternity members and 20-somethings alike listened in complete silence to a thin, clear voice and an acoustic guitar.
The living room shows started last September as a celebration of the band's debut album's 10th anniversary.
While Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is normally composed of multiple members, the living room shows are just lead singer/songwriter Alec Ounsworth and a guitar.
The band’s passionate fan base is attested to by the location of the shows — all of them are hosted by volunteers for nothing more than the promise of five free tickets and "eternal gratitude," according to the band’s website.
St. Anthony’s answered the call for Chapel Hill, and that’s how I found myself sitting in the corner of their den/concert space, surrounded by Christmas lights, pledge class portraits, watercolor paintings and other people’s coats.
Even with people packed in against each other, the room was still as Ounsworth played his way through a set of the band’s original songs and several covers.
He stopped between songs to talk and tune his guitar, self-deprecating as he fiddled with the knobs and then finally found the sound he wanted to produce.
The room laughed along with him, and then fell back quiet as the chords filled the air. His voice cut through the fray, at times almost overwhelmed by the guitar but consistently clear and gorgeous as he worked his way through the songs.
A new listener might have felt out of the loop, but that was the point — the concert was meant for fans, and everybody there was thrilled to see it deliver.
Ounsworth closed out his set and waited for the applause to die down before announcing he’d stick around for a while and pointing out a merchandise table in the next room over.
I packed up and headed back out into the snow, feeling a lot more indie and a little bit more at peace than I had when I stepped in.
@rachelisbeyonce
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
