The Brooklyn hosted a UNICEF Queen’s event called “No Beat Too Far” this Wednesday. 

The event was part of Queen’s UNICEF week, which included five fundraiser events.

The night featured performances by three diverse student bands: Tigress, North of Lawrence and Maji! Maji!

Tigress, the first band to perform, was a singer-songwriter duo. The second band, North of Lawrence, added a folk twist to the night with a violinist and two guitarists. 

Maji! Maji! ended the night’s line-up with a unique flavour, accompanying their upbeat sound with the indie taste of a ukulele player. 

The band performed a heavy 12-song set list, although a crowd didn’t form until they played “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire halfway through the performance. 

One-by-one, people left their seats to gather around the stage and soon nearly everyone was moving to the beat of Maji! Maji! 

As the performance drew to a close, a few spectators went on stage to take selfies with the band’s ukulele player. 

“It was pretty weird,” said Demetri Zoumboulakis, part-time ukulele player and third-year LifeSci student.

Since its inauguration in 2008, UNICEF Queen’s has hosted fundraising events in the Kingston community. Recently, however, the club’s activity has dwindled. 

The members of UNICEF Queen’s. (Supplied by Camilla Polowick)

Now, third year Politics major and UNICEF Queen’s club president, Danny Yeo, and president of internal affairs Kavina Sathiyasothy, both ArtSci ’17, say they’re determined to raise awareness of the club and of UNICEF as an organization. 

“When [the club] started in 2008, it was really good for the first few years, then it kind of disappeared. So that’s why we are trying to build it up,” Sathiyasothy said. 

“Music is the assistant in everything … it’s like food. It gets people together, and no one is going to complain,” Sathiyasothy said. 

“Once you have your audience together, you can target them in terms of what you try to get across, but you need to get them to stop and listen first.” 

On a university campus where most students are focused on their next assignment, grabbing students’ attention can prove difficult. Sathiyasothy said the longevity of any student organization relies on an ability to make students stop and listen. 

“We try to incorporate ourselves into university culture as much as possible, to get as much participation,” club president Yeo said. 

“That’s the best way for us to spread the word about UNICEF.”

Yeo is looking to continue the organization’s assimilation into university culture. 

“We want to raise $2,000 by the end of the school year, and to do this we must build a strong base for the [UNICEF] team,” he said.  

UNICEF Queen’s hopes to raise $500 from The Brooklyn event along with other events during this week, including Tumble Tuesday at Ale House.