On Sat., Mar. 14, Stay Gallery hosted Stay Fest, a night full of musical performances from various genres with hopes of bringing together local artists with the same musical endeavors who share a similar passion of contributing back to the community creatively.

The night began with Two Headed Cat performing songs off of their new EP. The band formerly known as The Artifacts is made up of former Downey High students. Their performance included a fog machine and a projector showing abstract images to go along with their alternative rock sound.

“If Interpol and Arctic Monkeys had babies, this would be their band,” junior Bria Trejo said.

In contrast to Two Headed Cat’s alternative sound, Furcast used rock and jazz to create a clean and original musical ambience during their performance. The trumpet feature put an unexpected twist to their performance, just another way of showing the eclectic mash up of performances Stay had in store for the night.

Downey Alumni, Nate Galindo, stopped by the gallery during his weekend away from school.

“I’m really glad I was in town for this one,” Galindo said. “The different styles kept the night interesting.”

Another group of the night was New American. The band had played at Stay many times; however, their interactive performance and classic 80s rock twist kept the audience indulged.

When people weren’t packed inside the gallery, they were outside drinking refreshments and conversing with each other.

Stay Gallery intern Carlos Agredano, 11, shared his thoughts after the event.

“It [Stay Fest] showed me that kids like me can progress and grow musically without the essential resources many other fortunate kids are given,” Agredano said.

Stay Gallery will be hosting the For the People art exhibit by Sergio D. Robleto from Mar. 20 to Apr. 11.