Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
Stanford Admit Weekend returned Thursday for the class of 2030, offering admitted students their first immersive glimpse into life on the Farm. For many prospective frosh (ProFros), the three-day weekend of events was less about the information sessions and campus tours, and more about a subtler, harder-to-articulate question: Can I see myself here? And if Thursday night’s band showcase was any indication, I’m guessing the answer for many was a resounding yes.
Hosted by The Arbor, the band showcase placed three of Stanford’s emerging bands — Girlband, DIVE and Six of Spades — in the center of the Treehouse stage for what became one of the weekend’s most talked-about events. By the end of the night, Tressider was full of ProFros watching bands formed by those who had once been ProFros themselves not long ago.
Of the three, I found DIVE particularly captivating. As an all-frosh band, its origins are emblematic of the rewarding experiences a Stanford ProFro might one day live through. Founded in fall 2025 out of jam sessions in the Burbank Hall basement, a handful of musicians with no particular agenda started jamming together and, over time, built something real. Hugh Cheng ‘29 on saxophone, Ethan Hong ‘29 on vocals and synthesizer, Jayden Ham ‘29 on keyboard, Justin Yu ‘29 on drums, Kla Sinlapaprechar ‘29 on bass and Sid Gogi ‘29 on guitar and vocals — six members with different musical backgrounds crafted a sound that moved between pop, jazz and rock without feeling scattered. By Admit Weekend, performances across OnCall, CoHo and the dorm rooms had sharpened DIVE into a band that knew exactly what it was doing onstage.
Their setlist moved across four decades, including Bill Withers’ “Just the Two of Us,” Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” Shawn Mendes’ “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s “Die Trying,” among other hits. Going from Bill Withers to The Killers to Shawn Mendes is a feat for any band to achieve in one set, but DIVE pulled it off.
The ProFro crowd brought an energy that matched the moment. “They just had so much energy,” Yu said.
The crowd grew as the set went on, with ProFros drifting in from the edges, filling the space closer to the stage. “Mr. Brightside” and “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” sparked the most sing-alongs. Between songs, DIVE was unhurried and conversational, and the crowd loosened up accordingly.
For Sinlapaprechar, the show carried extra weight. “It was my first time rapping in front of a crowd this large,” he said, “but being alongside my bandmates really eased my nerves. I had so much fun, and I can’t wait for more concerts with DIVE.”
As the show came to an end, I could see the crowd wasn’t ready to leave. People had been singing along all night — even to “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” which caught me off guard because it isn’t exactly a mainstream pick anymore. Having watched them rehearse in the Burbank basement for months, I wasn’t surprised.
Kate Lee ‘29, a friend of the band, put it simply: “I thought it was amazing, and I saw a lot of ProFros enjoying it as well.”
By the end of the night, people were already referring to Sid and Ethan — the lead vocalists — not by name but as “red shirt guy” and “black shirt guy,” according to Lee, praising them both for their vocals. In a weekend full of firsts, DIVE had already lodged itself in people’s memories.
By Saturday, the class of 2030 had three days of Stanford behind them. For some, it may have been the campus tours or the information sessions that sealed it. For others, it might have just been Thursday night. Stanford’s music scene runs on the same energy as everything else here: students deciding to build something, then building it.