Trolley Night: A Pilgrimage, A Party, A Core Memory
- Cathy Campo
- Nov 23, 2025
- 3 min read
By: Joel Kohn, Staff Writer
Trolley Night has quickly earned its reputation as one of the biggest Kellogg parties of the year. Even for someone like myself, who enjoys the odd party but isn’t snapping up wet tickets for every event that pops up on Campus Groups, the night genuinely lived up to the hype. Based on the day-after chatter, I was far from the only one who felt that way. The 1Y KSA and the Kellogg Bands put together something fun, chaotic, and memorable in all the right ways.
For those not in the know, the “gimmick” of Trolley Night is that attendees, decked out in denim, travel to the venue in a party trolley resembling an old-timey cable car. During this 2+ hour commute from Evanston to Downtown Chicago, typically with one’s KWEST group, there is a lot of drinking, dancing, and general festiveness. My own journey on the PortuKWEST trolley was segmented by a stop at Lottie’s, Bucktown’s premier vintage sports bar, for drinking, snacking, and chatting with the Estonia and Chile KWESTees.
All routes eventually led to the Epiphany Center for the Arts, a former church that now serves as an arts space and events venue in the West Loop. The party itself took place inside the repurposed church sanctuary, a spot well suited acoustically for the Trolley night performances.
A few attendees remarked that they preferred the vibes and experience of their trolley parties to the party in the sanctuary. While I can understand that sentiment, I wholeheartedly disagree. The party at the Epiphany was the highlight of the night.
The centerpiece of the event was back-to-back performances by student bands, The Rockets and The Captains, playing a set of covers to an amped-up audience.
The night kicked off with a set from The Rocket Pockets ("The Rockets" for short), whose performance struck that sweet spot between “well-rehearsed cover band” and “we’re having fun and you should too.” The set list was an artful mix of karaoke classics like "You Belong With Me" (Taylor Swift), "Chicken Fried" (Zac Brown Band), "Don’t Stop Me Now" (Queen) and "Rolling in the Deep" (Adele) alongside numbers like "Take Me Out" (Franz Ferdinand), "Paralyzer" (Finger Eleven), "What I’ve Done" (Linkin Park), and "Bring Me To Life" (Evanescence) which I assume were pulled directly from the “I’m 12 years old and angry” playlist on my 7th grade iPod. I must note my particular admiration for drummer and President of the Kellogg Bands, David Buzzell (MBAi '26), who came on stage wearing at least six layered shirts, which he removed and threw into the audience, one by one, between songs.
Following The Rockets were The Captains of Industry (or "The Captains" for short) with a performance that leaned more in the experimental direction, soundwise, from the originals. Yet their renditions of classics like "Mamma Mia" (ABBA), "Sweet Caroline" (Neil Diamond), and "Livin' on a Prayer" (Bon Jovi), while diverging from their source material, still maintained the emotional spark that makes them such classics. You would not expect "Shake it Off" by Taylor Swift to be able to incorporate a saxophonist and still sound coherent, but the jazzy quality of James Liao’s (MMM '27) performance paired well with the song’s breezy, IDGAF attitude.
My only critique? Ending the set-list with "Closing Time" (Semisonic) did a bit of a disservice to the DJ who was charged with keeping the party going after the bands had left the stage. He actually played a great set, but it’s nearly impossible to reset the mood right after a song telling everyone “you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
Overall, the experience of Trolley Night was one of good energy, good music, and good vibes. It left me satisfied with the experience, impressed by the talents of my classmates, and excited for the Battle of the Bands in the spring quarter. Read More by Joel Kohn: What, Exactly, Is the Point of Museums? An Honest Review of Chicago's Field Museum