Marshall University students and administrators enjoyed an on-campus concert Thursday afternoon at the Memorial Student Center plaza.

Local band Ona played original music and Marshall University Campus Activities Board sponsored the event.

Lee Tabor, CAB adviser and coordinator of student activities, booked the performance and said he became an instant fan of the band after its performance at FEST: 2.

“Anytime we can bring talent to Marshall’s campus, that’s great,” Tabor said. “It kind of gives campus a little bit more of a livelier feel and it breaks some of the monotony of going to class, going home, and repeating the process.”

Some students said the performance not only broke the monotony of campus life, but it was a nice stress reliever.

Anthony Grene, a freshman broadcast journalism major, said he enjoyed listening to Ona’s music and it helped him feel at ease during this stressful time in the semester.

“Their music is very authentic,” Grene said. “It’s not flashy, it’s not over the top, it’s not a bunch of effects, and it’s real music with real instruments. You know, they’re not making any changes to their voices.”

Ona is a five-member band from Ona, West Virginia, including Bradley Jenkins, Zach Johnston, Max Nolte, Zack Owens, and Brad Goodall.

The band has released three albums of what the members consider Indie-Rock Americana-ish music.

Ona lead singer Bradley Jenkins said the band started in 2013 and he hopes it will have more opportunities to play on campus.

“The disconnect between Marshall students and the local music scene is crazy,” Jenkins said. “There’s like 15,000 students or something and you can’t get 10 of them to a show. So this was a way to reach out to the Marshall crowd, get them to our shows, and see the local music scene in Huntington.”

Ona used the performance on the plaza to promote its upcoming shows in the area. The band’s next show will be at the V Club Saturday night.

Emily Kinner can be contacted at [email protected].