It was a good year for music around the state, and it was just as good a year for music on campus. If you wanted good, free entertainment, campus was the place to be.

The school year started off on a high note. Fresh off the success of their hit single “Daylight,” Matt and Kim performed with Norman’s Early Beat the first day of school in the Union. Playing to a capacity crowd at Meacham Auditorium, the band turned the place into a loud, sweaty dance party with its raucous electro-tunes.

In October, campus would be treated to another pair of high-profile performers.

First came indie-stalwarts The Walkmen — best known for their hit single “The Rat” — who performed songs from their critically-acclaimed albums “Bows and Arrows” and “You & Me” along with Oklahoma’s own indie-heavyweight Student Film in early October.

Next were folk darlings Great Lake Swimmers, who performed singles, including “Pulling On a Line,” just a week later in Meacham Auditorium with Andrew Kenny’s band The Wooden Birds for a gorgeous night of acoustic melodies.

On the first day of November, the campus received its biggest and most talked about concert of the year — other than U2, of course.

Owl City was arguably at the peak of its popularity as it came to campus. Owl City’s smash single “Fireflies” was topping the pop charts, and its album was doing some damage as well. When word got out that Owl City would be playing on campus, students were definitely abuzz. Originally scheduled for the Will Rogers Room, the show was moved to the much larger McCasland Fieldhouse. Even then, officials were forced to turn away people at the door as fans filled the place to capacity. The night went off without a hitch, and fans got their “Fireflies” in its final encore.

In April, Camera Obscura and Kevin Devine made their appearances.

Scottish group Camera Obscura has long been an indie darling, and fans showed up in droves to see them in Oklahoma. Nearly stealing the show, though, was Princeton, an afropop band from L.A., whose lively set kept the energy buzzing until Camera Obscura took the stage.

The final campus concert was when Kevin Devine performed with Norman’s resident pop star Jacob Abello just days later in the Will Rogers Room, playing hits like “Longer That I’m Out Here” and “I Could Be With Anyone.”

All in all, it was a great year for free, eclectic campus concerts. Add in the Norman Music Festival, and the life of a college music fan was a pretty nice one this year.