The After Hours live music venue, normally held in a secret location, hosted its “final” show Friday night at Skewers & Brew in Downtown San José, according to an April 21, 2025, Instagram post by the venue.
The DIY live music event, typically held in a basement below a skate house near SJSU, drew a crowd of students and local fans for the last gathering in a larger venue.
Among the performers was Ernesto Moran, an SJSU graduate and member of the band Lovers Peak, along with his twin brother Ramiro Moran.
“We started in like, 2021, but we didn’t seriously start until we kind of moved out here, which was like two years,” Ernesto and Ramiro Moran said. “We transferred to SJSU, and then kind of dove into this scene. And really feel like that’s when it started.”
The Moran twins launched Lovers Peak in 2020, kicking off their music career in Monterey Bay with the release of their debut track “Blue Skies,” according to a Sept. 12, 2023 Spartan Daily article.
The duo has cultivated a following across the Bay Area, often performing in local venues such as Philz Coffee, where Ramiro Moran works, according to the same article.
Lovers Peak continues to book shows in the Bay Area as their fan base grows beyond San José.
“Tomorrow, we're playing a show in (San Francisco) at the back of the woods, and then in two weeks, we’re opening up for a really good band that we've been fans of for a minute, Mexican Slum Rats,” Ramiro Moran said.
The events at After Hours have allowed students the opportunity to participate directly in the growing DIY music culture.
“It brings the community together,” Ernesto Moran said. “There’s like 300 people here just to watch, like a show of a bunch of local bands just here to support, which feels very community-driven.”
Elton Jimenez, one of the door security guards at After Hours, has been involved in these events for over a year after initially coming to hang out at the skate house.
Although Jimenez first connected with the group informally, he gradually took on more responsibilities.
As After Hours grew in popularity, Jimenez said occasional issues came as the venue became closer to reaching its capacity limits.
“As for conflicts, you know, just people trying to kind of push their way in when we’ve reached capacity in the past,” Jimenez said. “People are not trying to help us pay the bands that fans and producers, that I mean, perform for them.”
The Bay Area DIY music scene thrives on a spirit of creativity, rebellion and community building, with young artists reviving punk and hardcore traditions through self-organized shows in unconventional spaces, according to a Sept. 14, 2023, KALW article.
For many, the scene is a niche for local musicians away from mainstream music, offering a more intimate and creative environment.
Sofia Fonzi, a fourth-year animation and illustration major at SJSU who uses they and them pronouns, has been attending After Hours for the past two years.
Fonzi said they enjoyed After Hours as a way to destress from classes and enjoy being a part of the community.
“(I) honestly think the music scene right now is so alive and I really want this to continue, and there’s so many more,” Fonzi said. “This is the best place to be for any music right now.”
Although Friday’s show marked the end of After Hours in its original form, it has brought people together through the love of music.
“The energy that it brings out of people and that it brings out of myself, the San José music scene, it's really curated to the people that want to listen to the genre,” Jimenez said. “And over here in the San José music scene, it’s like, minds like us, they think and they create music and it’s for us.”
While advertised as the venue’s “Final Show,” according to the same After Hours Instagram post, “This might be the last show… or just our villain origin story. Either way, you don’t wanna miss it.”
“You know, I’d do anything I can to be able to continue, but you know, this can’t last a lifetime,” Jimenez said. “People gotta evolve in their life; everyone’s moving now, they’re going, they're graduating,. “I mean, we all got to take a step forward in life, but it’s cool that we kind of had something for the moment that some of the people could enjoy.”
