SAN JOSE, Calif. — Downtown San Jose was bustling as we drove around looking for parking. “I guess sparkles are back in,” I said to Editor in Chief Dylan Ryu as I gazed at the hundreds of dresses and tuxedos making their way to the San Jose Performing Arts Center. Dylan and I had just come from the first event of the annual Golden Circle Theatre Party, a beautiful mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, celebrating Santa Clara University’s alumni and donors, but now, we were on our way to the night’s main attraction—the Train concert.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Woah woah woah, Bergin, what even is Golden Circle, why wasn’t I invited, and did you really get to hear ‘Hey, Soul Sister’ live?” Well, I am so glad that you asked. The Golden Circle Theater Party is an annual fundraising event hosted by the Santa Clara University Board of Fellows. The black tie event has been around for nearly 60 years and has hosted esteemed past performers such as Frank Sinatra—twice, John Legend, Ray Charles, and The Beach Boys. Now to answer your question about why you weren’t invited, that is probably because the tickets start at $750 and can go up to $5,000. The attendees of Golden Circle pay these premium prices to support the Golden Circle Scholarship Fund, which, according to the University’s website, has raised over 70 million dollars for undergraduate scholarships since 1967. Now to answer your final question, yes I did get to hear “Hey, Soul Sister” live, and it was awesome, but we’ll get to that later.

Students are welcome to attend Golden Circle and many do attend as guests, work at the event or even get to perform. Vocalicious, one of the University’s acapella groups, opened before Train went on with their renditions of “This Love” by Maroon Five and “Killing Me Softly” by the Fugees. “It was absolutely exhilarating to be a part of the event!” said member of Vocalicious Kylie Bennett ’27. “Just so surreal to look out in the crowd and see so many people really responding to our performance. That made all the prep work feel so rewarding! I even got to talk to a member of Train backstage which was crazy!”

The Golden Circle Theater Party is more than just a concert, there is also a sitdown dinner, reception and dancing held at the Signia by Hilton in San Jose. I did not get to attend the dinner portion of the evening since it is intended for donors.

Still, the main event of the evening is the Train concert, but before they went on, the Chair of the Board of Fellows, Katy Kelly, welcomed us with a speech. After thanking all the attendees of the evening, Kelly revealed that this year Golden Circle had raised $2 million for undergraduate scholarships. The crowd erupted in applause, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

Not only had Train performed at Golden Circle before in 2017, but they started in the Bay Area. . A true highlight of the evening was the band’s cover of “Hotel California” by the Eagles where the lead singer, Pat Monahan, traded places with his drummer and while the rest of the band grabbed guitars and shredded the infamous three-minute guitar solo. But of course, the concert would not have been complete without the much anticipated performance of “Hey, Soul Sister,” the band’s 2009 smash hit. The crowd screamed along to every word of the song. From my seat, I saw almost everyone’s mouth moving along, proving my theory that there is not a soul alive who does not at least know the chorus to this song. Whether you love it or you hate it, nobody can escape the cultural permanence of “Hey, Soul Sister.” And like I said, it was awesome.

The concert ended with my favorite moment of the evening, an incredibly moving performance of “Drops of Jupiter.” Leaving the event, we followed the crowd of attendees heading to the Signia hotel. The path to the hotel, which was about a quarter of a mile from the performing arts center, was lined with several student acapella groups performing their hits. After reaching our car, we drove past the entrance to the hotel to see the University’s pep band and dance team welcoming the guests to the second half of their night.

Overall, the Golden Circle Theater Party was an evening full of celebration and love for Santa Clara University. Despite the fact that I did not get to attend the entire evening, I had more than a blast looking into the world of SCU donors and alumni. I do wish that this event was more accessible to students, but I am so happy that I got to attend.