Elliott Hove | Nov. 3, 2026
Grub during their Halloween show at Kittredge Arts Center, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa. NC, on October 31, 2026 (Echo/Finn McKenny)
On the subjectively spookiest night of the year (Oct. 31), student band Girl Fairy Tomboy hosted a terrifying show featuring four student bands for the Warren Wilson College (WWC) campus community. The theme of the show? Each band in attendance joined in the dress-up dramatics of the Halloween season, hence the advertised theme of the evening: “Your favorites play your favorites.” Masses of moshing monsters, including vampires, bears, ghouls, King Arthur and Tingle from The Legend of Zelda, jammed out to the freakish tones of their peers’ music.
The sonic masquerade lineup of the event was Phineas Gage as The Beatles, Grub as 100 Gecs, Girl Fairy Tomboy as Title Fight, and Jazz Dog as Soundgarden. Owen Gunter, a senior on the Work Program Office Crew and lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist for Girl Fairy Tomboy, explained the inspiration behind having the bands dress up, and also highlighted Girl Fairy Tomboy’s reasoning for picking Title Fight as their band costume.
“It was actually Joe [Castello, drummer and backup vocalist for Girl Fairy Tomboy]’s idea… [He said that] The Milestone in Charlotte [N.C.] does a similar event on Halloween, where bands dress up as a cover show,” Gunter said. “I was like, ‘We have to do that…’ I got the idea to do Title Fight because their songs are so fun and I thought, ‘I would love to play an entire set dedicated to [them].’”
Setlist of Title Fight covers songs on the stage during the Halloween show at Kittredge Arts Center, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa. NC, on October 31, 2026 (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)
Mazzy Carroll, a senior on the WWC River Stewards Crew, acted as a party monitor for the event. They elaborated on what their responsibilities were for keeping the event safe.
“[A party monitor is] a student who is there for the safety of party goers and to see what's going on,” Carroll said. “Mostly what I did was stand near the entrance keeping an eye out for [anyone] who looks like they're in a crisis situation, or if somebody's hurt or in danger, and responding accordingly.”
The presence of party monitors is being heavily encouraged by Public Safety and Student Life in order to keep gatherings and parties safer without disbanding them. Carroll added that being trained for the party monitor role was not very difficult or time consuming.
“You go through what you would do in certain situations and what you would do if certain things happened,” Carroll said. “You are expected to be sober, to make sure occupancy is in track, and to do something I consider already, which is being a good community member. If somebody's in trouble, [you] help or call for assistance.”
If a student is interested in training to become a party monitor, they can contact the Director of Student Activities, Kyndal Norman.
Beyond the increasingly important role of party monitors for campus events, planning the show itself also required a lot of logistics. Gunter, who organized the event and set list, revealed how the process of planning for the student show came together.
“It was [difficult],” Gunter said. “It had its ups and downs. It was a lot of filling out the same form and a lot of poor communication in certain parts, but then we changed the space to Kittredge [Recital Hall] and it was a stable flow of progress. I'm happy that I started planning it like a month out because if I did it any later than that, it would have been like 50 times more stressful.”
Members of Girl Fairy Tomboy Owen Gunter, Eleanor Sanford, Clara Shirley, and Joseph Castello during their Halloween show at Kittredge Arts Center, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa. NC, on October 31, 2026 (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)
Looking beyond the tribute set to Title Fight, Gunter highlighted future plans for Girl Fairy Tomboy, including the release of original recorded music.
“We're heavy working on music,” Gunter said. “We're going to probably take a little break [from playing shows]… [But] we'll have one more big show to celebrate the music that we release next semester… And you can quote me on that.”
Each student band showcased their unique sound, even while disguised as their favorite bands. Their ability to work the crowd of adorned students was impressive, and the WWC community can look forward to more great music and shows in the coming months.