Local legends Honda Civic reunite for “Houghton Invasion” of Marquette
On Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7, venues in Marquette will be hosting a “Houghton Invasion” of bands from the local area. The show on Saturday starts at 8 p.m. at Blackrocks, and features Humility, Bees!Bees!Bees!Bees!Bees!Bees!, Twig, and Stardawg, while the show for Friday starts at 7 p.m. at The Crib (with a $5 cover charge) and includes Under The Gun, Weber, Isle Royale Mining Co., and Honda Civic. While most of these bands have played at shows multiple times this semester, one name new students might find unfamiliar is Honda Civic.
Honda Civic is a noise rock band primarily active from April 2022 to April 2024, though they have reunited several times and released a series of EPs on Bandcamp in 2025. While the members have long since graduated from Tech, the band still has a bit of a local mythology built around them due to their energetic performances, which legend says caused them to break through the floor at a local frat house.
“No, I don’t think anyone ever fell through a floor,” admits bassist Dylan Lane over a voice call interview with the band, “[but we] actually did damage a house on Hubble Road… [it was an] old Houghton House, a lot of people jumping around, and at the end of the night… one of the main structural supports that you could see in the basement had been broken from the show.” Several other shows from the band featured crowds moshing, a style of high-contact dancing, so intense that the drum set was knocked apart. “Yeah, those were legendary shows,” said singer Connor Gordon.
Many Tech students still remember Honda Civic fondly. Misha Welch, the Secretary for the Music Lovers Group at Tech testified, “Honda Civic is simply awesome, their volume and experimental style inspired many artists in Houghton,” while Gray Pixley, an alumnus and former WMTU DJ, loves “their dynamics, heavy usage of effects, and strong rhythms.”
Though the band say that more reunions are “guaranteed” whenever all three of them are in the area, they still emphasize the importance of coming to Marquette for the show. According to Gordon, “Showing up to this event, the Houghton invasion, all of the people from Tech that aren’t in a band: do your part, that’s what’s gonna keep the Houghton music scene alive.”
Other bands playing the event have differing opinions. Reached over Instagram, Under The Gun said, “I think this one is less for Tech students and more for the people in Marquette to spread the influence of Houghton’s music scene to the city.” In another Instagram message, Robin Strong of Weber said, “I personally see it as an event where students from MTU and NMU can come together, have a good time, and look past our rivalry.” More info on the event can be found on the bands’ respective Instagram pages.