Alepalooza is back swinging for round three.
Four local bands are set to hit the Ale House stage on March 27, in the third iteration of Alepalooza, which started in 2023. This year, the event will see the talents of The Astros, Blunt Force Llama, RevZed, and Last Call showcased at the venue, whose 650 person capacity is a step up for some of these student bands. Groups like Blunt Force Llama have graced the Alepalooza stage before, while newcomers Last Call secured their opening slot through their victory at the Queen’s Music Club (QMC) Battle of the Bands in October.
READ MORE: Queen’s Music Club’s Battle of the Bands returns for a second year
The event was founded back in 2023 by former QMC President Thomas Panksep, Sci ’24, who encouraged the club’s current Co-Presidents Beth Armstrong and Jack Blurton, both CompSci ’26, to get involved in organizing of the event. Though Alepalooza isn’t d with QMC, the club’s Battle of the Bands event last semester selected one of the opening acts.
The Co-Presidents’ ion for live music, and a desire to carry on Panksep’s vision led to their involvement in the event this year.
“I was in attendance at the first Alepalooza, and that was something that was really special, to see such a such a big audience for three bands that were so familiar. It was really quite special just to see such a big celebration of local talent, and we hope that that doesn’t go away,” Blurton said. The first three bands to perform in 2023 were student groups Kings of Queens, GirlDad and Rooftop Caravan.
Each band selected to perform brings a different element to Thursday’s show, with the location as a central party hub influencing the types of crowds they’re expecting.
“I think it draws in a little bit of a different crowd” Armstrong said. “I have tons of friends who obviously love and appreciate music, but they’re not as enthusiastic, maybe, about live music, but I think having it at Ale is so synonymous with going-out life in in Kingston, or for students,” she added.
Preparation for the event has been a feat of organization for the pair, with an added layer of intensity for Blurton, whose band RevZed is performing.
“We’ve been organizing an event for a venue with a very large capacity, despite being a pretty small team ourselves,” Blurton shared. “It’s been a learning experience for everybody involved, just figuring out how much really goes into promoting an event on this scale.”
Blurton and Armstrong hope Thursday’s show will bring out a large student crowd to see the talents of their peers and broader Kingston talent like The Astros.
“We want them [the crowd] to see how ionate their peers are about their art. If we can inspire fellow Queen students, then that means more students will be inspired to start bands, which we think is wonderful,” Blurton shared.
With tickets priced at only $5 online, and $10 on the door, low pricing has been a conscious decision from the organizing team to make live music as affordable as possible.
“We deliberately chose to make this event cheaper than it had been in previous years,” Blurton shared. “The profit is secondary to us [….] we just want everybody to have a good time.”
The organizers have high hopes for the event’s third year and hope Alepalooza’s legacy will continue past their years at Queen’s.
It’s a tradition of live music Blurton is eager to see paved into Kingston’s history. “If we’re able to keep this running annually, indefinitely, that’ll be one hell of a legacy that those original bands left behind.”
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