This post was updated May 22 at 11:07 p.m.

Before, many attendees may not have known exactly who they were watching this evening. After, it would be hard to forget.

The Student Committee for the Arts at UCLA’s annual Royce Hall concert has a knack for hosting talented, up-and-coming superstars, like Doja Cat before “Say So,” or Magdalena Bay before “Image” and The Marias before “No One Noticed.” Thursday’s sensational headliner After, joined by magnetic opener Isaac Dunbar and confident student performers Cocona and band, continued the tradition of introducing fiercely promising acts.

The concert was free for UCLA students and $25 to the general public. It took place beneath the dazzling coffered ceilings of the Royce Hall auditorium, fitted with modern acoustic galleries that truly amplify sound. A line of students eagerly awaited the 7:30 p.m. opening, and soon, the Roman-inspired hall filled almost completely with students and members of the public alike.

The night began promptly at 8 p.m. with opener Cocona Mori, a performer and a fourth-year music industry student. Mori, dressed in a butter yellow dress and boots, was flanked by an impressive semicircle of a band, including three guitarists, a saxophonist, a pianist, a trumpist and a drummer. This encompassing ensemble proved fruitful as Mori’s strong vocals were beautifully accompanied. In her opening song, “All I Know,” the trumpet shone through, while “Tokyo Train,” which Mori said was written on a train in Tokyo, felt hopeful and layered with the keyboard and drums adding nuance. The group’s set included a cover of Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need,” showcasing Cocona’s warm stage presence as she moved across the stage. They wrapped up the performance with a song she had written just two weeks prior. The group’s polished performance marked them as a student act to watch.

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Alt-pop singer-songwriter Isaac Dunbar, whose confessional, queer and humorous music has garnered the American artist millions of streams, took to the stage as the next act. Dunbar immediately captured the crowd as he sauntered in, dressed in a polka-dot skirt and red tights, a red coat and red stilettos, which he promptly shook off. Dunbar owned the stage as he crawled, clapped, shimmied and swayed, charming many of the audience into standing and dancing. Songs such as “Princess” and “fan behavior” were notably fun and interactive, while “Tainted Love” demonstrated the artist’s striking vocal range. Closing with hit song “love, or the lack thereof,” Dunbar finally stepped back into his red stilettos, but later accidentally flung one far into the crowd as he kicked his leg out in dance. Luckily, the loose heel hit no one, but left a lasting impression on an already delightfully theatrical, standout of a performance.

After a few hours of anticipation, After finally took the stage at its scheduled 9:40 p.m. arrival. The Los Angeles-based duo, known for their 2000s style dream-pop music and aesthetics and formed in 2023, has only released two EPs so far, but will be opening for The Neighborhood in the fall. The young group is composed of Graham Epstein, who wore headphones and carried a computer in hand, and Justine Dorsey, entered in a patchworked skirt, complete with blue Salomon shoes. Opening in with the hit single “Deep Diving,” Dorsey’s blonde hair billowed angelically in the wind as her controlled yet airy vocals instantly highlighted the rising band’s star-quality. With a simple lit-up backdrop and one drummer, they kept the fun going with upbeat track “The Field” and hypnotic “Ever,” allowing their Y2K, dream-like qualities to shine. All the while, Epstein appeared to control the live production of the loops and synths on his laptop to ensure the bands could recreate their trip-pop textures with just one live drummer and two vocalists.

Laughing, Dorsey said she felt like a pop star with the large stage and a detachable mic, before she enchanted her audience with “The Story.” Epstein, the more stoic of the two, then began with his largest vocal contribution yet on “Lichen,” with Dorsey soon joining in to create a lovely, dueling high-and-low harmony as they belted the lyrics, “again, again, again, again.” The mood shifted as the lights dimmed to a darker purple as the duo played their new single, “Promise (When You Go),” a heartbreaking track that hits more dramatically than their other lighter works. Dorsey said she was a former UCLA student for two years, who adds that although she was very antisocial in college, she is now performing in Royce Hall – the crowd then appropriately cheered ferociously.

“Obvious,” a punchier, rock-pop hit that embraces the frustration that occurs when emotions are obvious between two people and neither admits to it, held the audience’s gaze tight. Another rock‑heavy track followed, as Dorsey let her voice loose as drums, guitar and flashing lights crashed around her. The lights blared red for “Cold,” which then burst into “The Element,” a track that felt like After’s peak lush, euphoric live energy. Packed with pounding synths and a driving beat, it propelled some of the crowd into dance.

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The night began its end with a bang. Dorsey dedicated a performance of their biggest hit “300 dreams,” to the audience, many of whom recognized the cinematic and nostalgic beat. Dorsey’s expressive movement was alluring while her vocals sounded just as radiant live as they do on the record. The duo sang face-to-face with “Close your eyes,” and teased an end as they exited the stage after, waving goodbye. However, they promptly waltzed back in encore for “Outbound,” a could-be 2000s party anthem. Dorsey bounced up and down and encouraged the audience to sing as the chorus hit, “I’ll try to tell you / When you come down in the morning, baby / No time for running out on me like that / You drive me crazy.” The crowd was the liveliest it had been all evening. That wasn’t all: they officially closed the night with “Something Special,” the first ever After track released in 2023, solidifying a genuinely joyous finale.

As students poured out of Royce Hall at 11:00 p.m., the lingering hum of collective euphoria was impossible to miss – a “before they blow up” moment unfolding in real time. Driven by Dorsey’s transcendent vocals, After’s fever dream of a performance undeniably left its mark.

If history is any indication, students may look back years from now, marveling that a night with such a stacked line up was completely free — and that they were there before everything that came, well, After.