(Wrath of Wednesday performs at Kafe Kerouac. (Courtesy/Wrath of Wednesday’s Facebook page)

In the music industry, many factors depend on who you know. For senior Ben Ross and his band Wrath of Wednesday, an introduction to an event coordinator at a grad party last summer turned into an exciting upcoming show at The Basement, a grungy venue next door to the Express Live! Pavilion.

On its upcoming December 22 show, Wrath of Wednesday will be playing with three other talented high school bands: Echolocation, which plays riff-based rock, New Youth, a “party band,” and the headliner, The District Lightbulbs. 

Ross plays in The District Lightbulbs as well as Wrath of Wednesday, and according to him, it’s an alternative rock band that “doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

The show is highly anticipated by not only the bands involved but also their friends. Wrath of Wednesday is already out of pre-sale tickets, having sold nearly fifty, but those who still want to go are in luck: tickets cost $10 and can be purchased at the door.

The show’s venue is The Basement on December 22, a few days after the last exam ends. For those who aren’t leaving town for winter break, it’ll be a place to go to enjoy live music and support a classmate.

Ross is excited about the show, but his favorite part of performing is simply being on stage and the catharsis of playing. It’s not for the attention, but instead for something tangible: the interactions between audience and performer. Whatever the instrument, when he plays, the crowd responds.

“There’s that sort of connection that I crave when I play,” Ross said. “Most of the songs that I write are pretty emotional in terms of Wrath of Wednesday. When I go to play those, I’m kind of getting out whatever dirt I have in my mind.”

“I don’t want to say ‘Be there or be square,’” Ross said. “Maybe ‘Come out and rock out.’”