At the edge of Stevenson College, UC Santa Cruz’s iconic knoll overlooks a glistening Monterey Bay and the vibrant green East Field. On Saturday afternoon, this became the backdrop for a stage with three musicians sporting mullets, leather vests and eccentric accessories.
The sound of Mother Superior, a ’60s-’70s style rock band, welcomed the return of “Rock and Roll on the Knoll” for the first time in seven years. A cool breeze carried the sounds of a guitar and bass from the knoll across the field as students danced to the music, basked in the sun on picnic blankets and played Spikeball.
Around 50 students gathered on May 10 to listen to five UCSC bands perform. This semi-annual event started in 2010 and continued until 2018, when a decrease in interest and the onset of COVID-19 led to the event’s disappearance.
The event was an opportunity for UCSC musicians to share their work with the broader student community.
“Bands are constantly trying to get in connection with each other but it’s nice to just be able to play together through the school and also for other students,” said Gianna Sison, a singer for birdseye. “It’s also nice to feel supported by the school, actually to play with a PA system. We don’t get to do that often.”
The Stevenson Student Council began planning the event at the start of the 2025 academic year. Starting in early February, 14 bands submitted samples of their music to the Stevenson Student Council, hoping to be selected as one of the five performing bands.
“All of the bands were so good. It became a thing of, what five bands would meld together, create a good playlist, a good set list?” said Mason Seaberg, events coordinator for Stevenson Student Council. 
Stevenson Student Council members throw limited “Rock and Roll on the Knoll” themed shirts out into the crowd between sets. Photo by Arzu Azeem.
- Mother Superior: ’60s-’70s rock
- birdseye: jazz, R&B and indie
- Unpopable: balloon jazz
- Yes Ma’am: surf rock
- Sleeper Agent: shoegaze
The event started off with a ’60s and ’70s inspired band, Mother Superior. Members dressed in clothing of the era riffed their rock and roll songs and had the audience rhythmically swaying to their music, while basking in the shade. 
The second band to perform, birdseye, shifts away from the hard rock performed before them with a more soulful rhythm. Photo by Arzu Azeem.
birdseye, a six-piece group, followed the performance. The band has been together for just six months, and performs a blend of jazz, R&B and indie. The lead singer, Gianna, danced around the stage with the microphone, her clear voice projecting out as the crowd cheered for her. 
Unpopable band member Addi Somekh demonstrates how he uses a balloon as an instrument. Photo by Stephen Marino.
Unpopable, a band featuring Addi Somekh, a professor of the Cowell Core Course and well-known balloon artist, started the set off with balloon tricks, inviting the audience to watch closely. His group then began to perform covers, with one being Queen’s iconic “Another One Bites the Dust.” As the two students who make up the band with Somekh played, he warped the balloon-bass with his fingers and an electric toothbrush to create high pitch squeals, creating eerie techno noises that rang out in their songs. 
Yes Ma’am performing with their listeners supporting them close to the stage. Photo by Stephen Marino.
Afterward, Yes Ma’am’s surf rock reached the audience and had a handful of students up and dancing even through the heat of the day. 
Final band, Sleeper Agent, closes off the day with smiles on their faces and guitars in hand. Photo by Stephen Marino.
Closing out the event was the band Sleeper Agent, a five-person shoegaze band. Their grungy, indie-rock music echoed out across the crowd. Students sat listening, enjoying the graffiti “wall,” barbecued hot dogs ,and burgers as well as the free shirts. 
An attendee cheerfully adds more color and a youthful touch to the graffiti wall.
Audience and musicians alike emphasized their hope that UCSC’s college campuses will hold more events like these so students can showcase their talents. Wilder Pennington from Mother Superior explained why UCSC needs to give more attention to community events.
“Energy towards making [the music scene] a big thing and bringing that to the forefront would be beneficial for everybody because it brings everybody together in specific spots,” Pennington said. “People [want to] go out on weekends and see live music being played. [UCSC needs to] give students more of a space to be able to do so.”
Students listen to live music while laying on the grass and spending time with friends.
