KCOU held a concert at Rose Music Hall on Nov. 3 to celebrate the station’s recent 45th birthday. The lineup included indie rockers The Sweaters and It’s Me, Ross, rapper Jay Wood, classic rock revival band Sissy Paycheck and KCOU DJ Cousin Trent. All but Jay Wood were local artists.

The Sweaters, a band composed of three Hickman High School students, started the evening. They played music reminiscent of Car Seat Headrest, with drummer and lead vocalist Ben Cohen singing passionate lyrics over rocking riffs.

Local groove rockers, It’s Me, Ross, came next. They were supporting their newest album “C’est La Vie,” recently released on Bandcamp. After a set of dance-worthy songs, both new and old, the lead singer led the club in singing “Happy Birthday” to KCOU.

There were many instances of concert goers showing love for the station. After every set, people would take pictures with the KCOU banner outside. Harold’s Doughnuts also produced a batch of KCOU 45th Doughnuts in partnership with the radio station.

“The businesses we worked with [One to One Print Shop, Hitt Records, Pizza Tree and Harolds], were all either businesses we had previously worked with or were ones I had seen do similar partnerships before,” Braddee Williams, communications director for KCOU said. “The local business community in Columbia is amazing so we really lucked out there.”

Next was Columbia rock band, Sissy Paycheck, who played a set of passionate, old school rock and roll. Then rapper Jay Wood performed, bringing sick beats and captivating flows straight from Chicago. He rapped about taking his girlfriend to Wendy’s, called and responded with the audience and pitted half the club against the other to find who could cheer the loudest. To round out the night, KCOU DJ and Lounge @ Lunch host Cousin Trent played a DJ set of rap and R&B hits.

Since playing “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” on Halloween night of 1973, Williams believes the station will continue to grow in the future.

“We have a few more events this semester, like a profit share with B&B Bagels on Nov. 12, but the next big one is this spring with our annual F88 concert,” Williams said. “KCOU has a really great staff, and the communications team and I have some ideas in the work, so there will definitely be some more fun things coming soon.”

_Edited by Alexandra Sharp | asharp@themaneater.com_