Veranda Nights playing their last show all together on April 12 in Isla Vista, Calif. This was their last performance as a whole band, as Geert Timmerman, the trumpeter, was leaving Isla Vista to go back home to the Netherlands.
University of California, Santa Barbara students and alumni Greta Dooley, Isaac Porter, Daniel Smirnov, Collin Green, Lennen Berger, Kailee Miller, and Geert Timmerman formed the band “Veranda Nights” in January 2025. Veranda Nights stemmed from another band, the Bluebird Band, and now focuses on psychedelic soul music and covers songs including “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys, “Smooth Operator” by Sade, and “After Midnight” by J.J. Cale.
Kailee Miller and Geert Timmerman take a break during practice on April 12, in Isla Vista, Calif. Timmerman is originally from the Netherlands and is in a band there called Nillich that plays Zevenkoppige jazz-fusion. (Kahlo Friel-AsayDaniel Smirnov adjusts audio for the band’s instruments on April 12, in Isla Vista, Calif. Smirnov wanted to branch out in the genres of music from the Bluebird Band but felt as though they couldn’t play a certain type of music with them, causing them to create an offset band. (Kahlo Friel-Asay)Lead singer Greta Dooley warms up her voice on April 12 in Isla Vista, Calif. Dooley had already graduated in Fall 2024, but decided to stay in Isla Vista to sing in Veranda Nights. “We knew it was a temporary thing.” Smirnov added. (Kahlo Friel-Asay)
Collin Green and Lennen Berger tune the guitar and take a break from practicing on April 12 in Isla Vista, Calif. Green has a history of playing the snare drums in the Navy and then taught himself the guitar and bass during covid. (Kahlo Friel-Asay)Kailee Miller cleans her saxaphone on April 12, in Isla Vista, Calif. Miller was tracked down in Trader Joes by band member Dan to join, “I’ve known Dan for a while, I’ve seen him at shows and stuff, but I was in Trader Joes and he was there and he was like ‘Aye you play saxophone right?’” Miller said. (Kahlo Friel-Asay)Kailee Miller, Isaac Porter, and Geert Timmerman runa through a few songs on April 12, in Isla Vista, Calif. “My time playing here and in the band Veranda Nights has opened my once personal musical journey up into a musical conversation, where ideas seldom shared can be spread and understood with ease” Porter shared. “This is something I will always be grateful for, and cherish for the rest of my life.” (Kahlo Friel-Asay)
Band members (left to right) lead guitarist Daniel Smirnov, bassist Collin Green, drummer Lennen Berger, lead singer Greta Dooley, saxaphonist Kailee Miller, trumpeter Geert Timmerman, and keyboardist Isaac Porter plays their show on April 12, in Isla Vista, Calif. The band calls themselves Veranda Nights and focuses on psychedelic soul music. (Kahlo Friel-Asay)
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