The CMJ 2014 so far is starting out right. It has been a very eventful day, as bands like Casual Sex and The September Girls performed songs from their latest albums.

The CMJ is about music, as thousands of people are gathering together every day for five days in the heart of New York City to listen to, play and talk about music. The first day began today, Tuesday October 21, and all types of people from all over the world arrived earlier this morning at the NYU Kimmel building to pick up their badges for access to all of this year’s venues the bands will be playing at. But during the day of the festival, NYU hosts meet and greets as well as seminars to discuss various topics about music such as “Influencing trends and igniting debate: The role of the music critic today.” These sessions begin each day early in the morning and end right before the bands begin their showcases.

The band Casual Sex played at the Cake Shop right before The September Girls went on. Everyone who came to see them perform had to go down into the venue’s basement, where it was dark and somewhat claustrophobic because of the amount of energy in the room. At times it was even difficult to hear what the person next to you was saying, unless they were shouting, “Encore!” which someone had done. The band overall did a very great job engaging the crowd and playing some really cool music. They had an eclectic style in which at times they added a bit of funk or pop to rock. The audience seemed to enjoy them, as people were often taking pictures and video of the band and singing along to their songs.

The all girl band, The September Girls, walked on stage with their instruments and chic outfits. Though each had their own style, all of them looked very cool and trendy with their bangs, leather boots, and flowy garments. Their music is very passionate and sensual, so it may have been hard for those in the room listening to them not to feel connected to their rhythms and melodies that seemed to have captured the audience. There were times when the crowd got really quiet to listen to them play and sing. There were some even shushing others before the start of another song. Tonight was a really good performance for the band.

There will be other great performances throughout the CMJ week like Sam Fermin, The Cold War Kids, Kindness, Moses Sumney and many more, so stay tuned for more updates.