All content is written, and edited by members of the KAMP News team!
Letter from the editor:
Hello, to those sexy, amazing, stylish, and outstanding humans that are reading this. My name is Peyton Riegel, and I am the KAMP News Director for the Fall 2022 - Spring 2023 school year. I am elated to begin working here with KAMP News once again. If you have frequented KAMP News content in the past you rock and if you are a newbie to KAMP News content you indeed also rock. We here at the news team have been actively working together this past school year to bring you Weekly Winddowns, yet all good things do come to an end and we are eager to begin the next chapter here at KAMP News with some fresh content just for you. So please do not be shy, read up lads, and of course, we are always looking to further improve our group, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or are even interested in joining the KAMP News team please feel free to reach out to the news@kamp.arizona.edu email! This first piece that the team has worked on gives an exciting insight into what our news team has been up to this summer, we hope you enjoy and are having a wonderful break!
Written by: Rhiannon S. Cox
Published July 17, 2022
Hey KAMP News readers!
I hope this summer has been going well for you all. For me, I’m spending my summer in Bremerton, Washington. Bremerton is a small town compared to Tucson, but has a vibrant downtown full of art, restaurants, and local businesses.
Sculpture in Downtown Bremerton
Sculpture in Downtown Bremerton
This year, Downtown Bremerton hosted a summer festival with different food and craft vendors. Vendors were selling everything from earrings to bookmarks, as well as serving food like hot dogs and ice cream. I was excited to find a stand selling raspados, which are hard to find in Bremerton! To end the night, a fireworks show was on display in blue and gold, the colors of the local high school that have now become synonymous with the city itself.
Fireworks display in Downtown Bremerton
When I’m not hanging out downtown, I like to take walks in the neighborhood and admire the plants that grow in Washington State. All the lush green grass and trees is a much different view from Tucson. However, I’m excited to return for my senior year at the University of Arizona and continue activities with KAMP News!!
Blossoming tree in Bremerton
Written by: Catherine Hill
Published July 17, 2022
I returned to my hometown to reflect. Who am I? What do I want out of life? What excites me? What goals should I strive for in my last full year at university?
I love the breakneck pace of university. So when I returned to Flagstaff for the summer, I wanted to take a moment to pause. Of course: I didn’t. I dove head first into French 1, choosing very wisely to tackle an entire semester within a month. I impulsively bought a stack of eight books to consume before the start of school, then another two out of sheer intrigue. I swore off chasing beats until I set foot in the newsroom at the start of this upcoming semester, but failed to resist the thrill of chasing a good scoop! I also turned 22, admitted to heartbreak, and filled the notes app on my phone with poetry to cope.
There are some exciting plans that I’m in the midst of drafting–I won’t spoil them yet. However, I’m excited to announce that one of these plans involves a new initiative through KAMP news! I expect to set this initiative in motion this upcoming fall semester!
As for the questions I’ve set still to address–I’ve come up with a few interesting answers: I’m Catherine, that’s a big question with an evolving answer, I love journalism, and: there are many, many goals I’ve set out to accomplish.
This is my last full year at university, and although it feels as though I just arrived here, there’s so much I want to achieve within a year! I’m determined to use this last full year of university to forge a defining path in life. The projects I will set out to accomplish hold immense personal and creative value. Here’s hoping: all goes according to plan!
Above all else of all I’ve found that the concept of home changes. I miss my friends dearly. I never imagined that one day I would call a city in southern Arizona home. After spending a year here, I’ve grown very fond of the people, the fighting spirit of social justice and resilience, the mixture of culture and food and mesmerizing mural art, and even the warmer temperatures–especially in winter! Although I’m appreciating my time in summer here, five hours north, I can’t wait to return to my community in Tucson, Arizona.
Written by: Eli Gomez
Published July 17, 2022
Big Thief at The Observatory North Park
I spent the last few weeks of the spring semester counting down the days until exams were over in anticipation of seeing Big Thief in California. I took a road trip with some friends to San Diego, where they were performing at The Observatory North Park on May 13th. Big Thief is a very talented band, and their set was everything I could have hoped for and more.
The opener, Tucker Zimmerman, was a very pleasant start to the show. The 81 year-old singer-songwriter interspersed his gorgeous solo performances with personal anecdotes. One of the love songs that he played (and the story that accompanied it) happened to strike a very personal chord with our group, and by the end of the song, we were on the verge of tears. After a few songs by himself, Zimmerman invited two others to perform alongside him onstage. One was Big Thief’s bassist, Max Oleartchik, and the other was a very talented guitarist named Zack. Together, these three had an irresistible synergy. During the last song of the set, the rest of Big Thief came out from backstage and performed with the other three. Adrianne Lenker and Tucker Zimmerman sang together, and it was an all-around lively, delightful precursor to the main act.
Big Thief opened with “Sparrow” and the crowd was hooked from the very start. But while performing their second song of the night, the speakers in the venue experienced a technical malfunction. A high-pitch noise began droning from one set of speakers, and the band had to stop performing until the issue was resolved. The band took the opportunity to connect with the fans: Adrianne Lenker came down from the stage and spritzed those of us at the barricade with her rosewater, my friend was given a black & white polaroid of James Krivchenia (the band’s drummer), and the band was answering some questions from the crowd while lounging onstage. At one point, the bassist picked up his instrument and found the pitch of the droning speakers. The crowd joined along, singing or humming the note back to him. The rest of the band then grabbed their instruments and began improvising on the noise, which gradually transformed into Big Thief performing a lengthy ambient-drone improv session. This was easily my favorite part of the night; it was a beautiful and extremely circumstantial insight into the band’s collaboration, talent, and positive attitude. As they brought the session to a natural conclusion, the speaker malfunction was fixed.
By this point in the night, the energy in the room was soaring. Despite the ~15 minute time loss to the malfunction, the venue allowed Big Thief to perform their full set. For the rest of the night, the band gifted us with lovely, touching performances of their most cherished and magical songs. One of my favorite performances was the title track from the album they were touring, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. The studio version of this song is pretty and soft, with very gentle instrumentation. The live version, however, was performed as a heavier rock song, and I was fully enamored with it. “Not” also sticks out in my memory, as the live performance was much rawer and more intense than the studio version (especially Lenker’s guitar solo at the end!). Every song was performed with so much heart, and I felt so lucky to have experienced it.
This was the best show I’ve been to in recent memory, and I’m beyond grateful to Big Thief and to my friends for making the experience so beautiful. And just as Zimmerman’s act was a fitting, inspiring opening to an exciting, fulfilling show, this trip to San Diego was a fitting, inspiring prelude to what has been a very exciting and fulfilling summer so far.
I miss you KAMP! I can hardly wait to see you all again. I’m excited to spend my senior year in the company of good friends and good music. Enjoy the rest of your summer, everyone!!