The Peach Tree Rascals, an upcoming band from San Jose, California, graced Deerfield Academy’s campus on Saturday, May 13, for the 2023 Spring Concert. When the news of the band’s performance was first announced at the previous school meeting with an amusingfunny video, students had mixed reactions.
Ever since their song “Mariposa” SinceKnown for their song “Mariposa” that went viral on TikTok in 2019, the Peach Tree Rascals have been climbing in the world of music. Their music falls in a variety of genres, such asfrom rap, to pop, and to alternative. While many students were excited to welcome them to Deerfield, others had their concerns at first about whether or not their music would be suitablefit for a concert.
Adeeva Alli ’‘25, who had not heard of the band before, voiced her thoughts, saying, “I just feel like if you go to a concert and you don’t really know it [the artists], you can’t really enjoy it as much. Because like, one, you can’t really appreciate the music because you haven’t spent time on it, like just enjoying it yourself. Secondly, you’ll feel excluded from whatever might be happening, because you just can’t get the full experience of it.”
Student Activities Director Connor Merrill, on the other hand, expressed his thoughts on the uniqueness of the Peach Tree Rascals’ music in a Scroll interview, saying, “I think theat kind of versatility that they bring to the table is just going to bring a different kind of unique feel for the concert, and I think not everyone’s gonna like it, but I think other people are gonna be like, ‘Hey, that’s kind of different. That’s kind of cool.’”
Normally held in the winter, the annual concert was held in the spring this year, which was another unique aspect of the concert. Mr. Merrill explained that Deerfield had almost lined up an artist to perform around February, but they backed out at the last minute. However, rather than canceling the concert, Mr. Merrill connected with a new agency and the Peach Tree Rascals.
Through their hard work, Mr. Merrill and Student Planning Committee members Muyi Woghiren ’‘23, Stella Fierro ’‘23, Peter Aznar Klein ’‘23, and Chelsea Davis ’‘23 were able to secure a concert from the Peach Tree Rascals. However, the concert was made possible due to multiple other groups the Academy worked with.
Mr. Merrill, when speaking on his experience with the music agency, said, “…the agency’s been phenomenal to work with…and one of the beauties of working with them is that they serve as a middleman and handle all those types of logistics.” A Seeing as the band is based in California, the agency arranged transportation, hospitality, etc., which took a big responsibility off Deerfield’s shoulders.
Laser lights and a variety of student artists opened the concert to the forming crowd.The concert itself was opened by a variety of student artists that pumped up the already forming crowd, with the laser lights only adding to the atmosphere. Many students gravitated towards the stage and barriers, making it difficult for latecomers to grab a sport. Some students expressed their surprise at this, and they soon realized much of the action was going on at the front.
The Peach Tree Rascals, Dom, Tarrek, Joseph, and Jorge, appeared to a roaringacame out with lots of energy to a roaring crowd. Throughout the concert, they showed their personalities by interacting with Deerfield students. Singers Tarrek and Joseph grabbed phones of spectators and filmed videos for them from the stage, and even came up to the barriers, giving supporters high fives. Towards the end of the concert, Tarrek and Joseph even came over the barriers into the crowd of thrilled Deerfield students.
Janis Zempare ’‘26, expressed her excitement at the friendliness of the band, exclaiming, “I loved how they interacted with the crowd personally, like I was so excited when they literally took phones and recorded. I personally have never been to a concert like this before, and having that happen was just life changing.”
Zempare ’26’s had similar thoughts to thoughts were the same as those of many other students. THowever, the Peach Tree Rascals’s attitudesactions were not unexpected. Mr. Merrill expressed the how positive energy he sensed from the band has been when working with them, especially when it came to creating the video message that was shown at School Meeting, saying, “AAnd then I think adding that piece to the end with the actual band, talking to us as a community, I think that really kind of got people out of their seats a little bit.”
The concert also benefited had some benefits for the Peach Tree Rascals, who were “trying to continue to climbing the ladder in the music industry,” according to Mr. Merrill. Although many students attended to hear the band’s hit song “Mariposa,” the concert allowed the Peach Tree Rascals to share more of their music.
Zempare ’26 shared her growing interest in the band, saying, “I think that I definitely will check out more songs, because they’reb. Bbecauseecause they’re a really talented group. They’re really good singers a. And I think they definitely do need more recognition. However, I think they definitely gained more supporters and followers and [the concert] definitely contributed to their growth.”
Though Deerfield Academy encountered challenges in hiring an artist to perform for the Academy this year, and some members of the community casted had their doubts on the band when they were first announced, the Peach Tree Rascals were able to put on a memorable performance.