SHIFT Cyclery & Coffee Bar hosted an early celebration for Eau Claire’s Jazz Fest on Wednesday, April 19. The performance took place from 6-7:30 p.m. and was a free-to-attend event. 

According to SHIFT’s Instagram, The Chuck Everest Quartet performed a collection of live and energetic jazz music. This early celebration for Jazz Fest was just one of SHIFT’s weekly music nights. 

SHIFT offered a $1 discount on drinks during the performance. The beverages available at the event included coffee, tea, specialty drinks and alcoholic drinks. A variety of bakery items were also available for purchase. 

Chloe Falcon, a barista at SHIFT, said the cyclery and coffee bar has been trying to plan more events and host more live music recently. 

“It’s definitely something that we want to do more, especially as it gets nicer outside,” Falcon said. 

According to Falcon, SHIFT has been making an effort to plan and coordinate more events such as game nights and artist shows. 

“During the events that we do, we try to bring in university students and artists in the community and just have this as a place to meet and build community,” Falcon said. 

Falcon said she feels Eau Claire is a really unique city since it is a very artistic town for what is and where it is.

“I think that’s something that the people in Eau Claire value,” Falcon said. “So therefore a lot of businesses, especially downtown businesses, are always trying to harvest that and tap into that community.”

Maja Samec, an attendee of the jazz performance, said she knew all of the students performing at the event from the jazz studies program. Samec said she tries to come out to every show at SHIFT and thinks there should be more live music at the shop. 

“It’s really fun to see what everybody is doing now,” Samec said. “All of these students are really young and they’re super talented.”

Samec said she feels SHIFT is a great venue for live music where the music can be the focal point of what is happening in the space.

“I like the flexibility of the space, especially when it’s super calm in the morning but then they’re able to shift it over to something like this in the evening,” Samec said.

Colin Carey, the cafe manager at SHIFT, said he was pleased with the large turnout at the event, especially with the performance date being so near the Jazz Crawl. 

According to Carey, SHIFT has been trying to consistently host live music on Wednesdays. 

“It’s just been kind of lining up and trying to figure out with different artists when we can make everything work,” Carey said. 

Carey said besides the events SHIFT hosts, it is also just a cool place to come and get work done or meet and hang out with people.

Falcon said SHIFT encourages UW-Eau Claire students and Eau Claire community members to inquire at the shop if they are interested in performing or hosting an event at SHIFT. 

To stay up to date with events happening at SHIFT, check out their Instagram. 

O’Brien can be reached at [email protected].