Saturday Springfest concert officially began at 7 p.m. when DJ Diplo’s techno beats channeled through the amps and vibrated the floor of a half-full, neon-lit Matthews Arena.
After months of planning, the Council for University Programs’ (CUP) annual end-of-Springfest bash drew in a line of people that stretched down the block. They steadily filed in through metal detectors to fill the arena by the time Guster took the stage at 7:25 p.m. After their set, Philadelphia-based Diplo spun mash-ups of popular songs before Jimmy Eat World ended the show.
“There wasn’t a favorite part for me – the whole night was perfect,” said Nani Stoick, Springfest concert chair. “We didn’t have any [bad] situations at all.”
Guster, who hasn’t been on tour in a year and a half, played a medley of songs from their 2006 album, Ganging Up on the Sun, with a few of their most well-known hits from previous albums. Their set began with “One Man Wrecking Machine” and moved on to popular songs “What You Wish For” and “Satellite.”
Before playing “Hang On,” lead singer Adam Gardner told listeners: “This is where you take out your Zippo lighters – or your iPhone applications of Zippo lighters.”
The dialogue during Guster’s performance included a brief update about their new album and the status of band members’ babies; an announcement of one of their stage crew member’s decision to leave the music business, to which they followed up with a candle-lit cake; and an FYI to the audience that their drummer, Brian Rosenworcel, plays sans sticks, which Gardner described as “intense.”
Their set finished with a thank you and arguably their most popular song, “Fa Fa.”
Diplo’s set after Guster’s performance, some concertgoers said, was better than his first, with dance mixes of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” and Lil Wayne’s “A Milli.” His first set was a series of computer-produced techno sounds.
Sophomore international affairs major Al Smith said she wished DJ Diplo had more time to spin his tunes.
“If he had had his own time period, people would have paid more attention,” she said. “He’s a real artist.”
She also said the seating arrangement for the show was “strange,” and not conducive to the appropriate response to Diplo’s music. The floor was filled with folding chairs rather than left an open space to allow concertgoers to dance.
Jimmy Eat World started their set around 9:10 p.m. with “Futures” from the 2004 album of the same name. They moved on to songs like “Dizzy” and “Blister” and went off stage briefly after playing “Pain.” For their encore, they played the well-known hits “Hear You Me,” “The Middle” and “Sweetness.” During the show, lead singer Jim Adkins alerted the audience that their new album, a live-recording of their previous album Clarity drops tomorrow.
“Jimmy Eat World completely rocked the entire arena,” Stoick said. “People loved it.”
Freshman undecided major Lindsay Broderick said she was pleased with the show overall.
“I thought it was pretty good,” she said. “I liked when Jimmy Eat World came back on for an encore.”
Stoick said this year’s concert went smoother than in previous years, like when Nas and Ludacris performed.
“It was amazing,” Stoick said. “The bands were really down to earth. Backstage, it was the smoothest Springfest we’ve had.”
Concert rocks on campus
Published: Monday, April 6, 2009
Updated: Monday, April 6, 2009
14 comments
But still...CUP...how about showing the metal heads some love...Unearth was @ AfterHours awhile back (2007?) and they pretty much could have owned this weak set you got for Springfest...at least have a musically balanced concert next time so that you can show you made the attempt to appeal to everyone, no matter their musical tastes...if not, then turn over the concert decisions to someone who will, or stop wasting our money.
And it doesn't matter who CUP brings in, someone is going to complain. We could have Paul McCartney here next year and there will be some NU faction upset with that choice. If you don't like it, don't go.
I myself was walking past Matthews at around 9 or so, and people were coming out then...hahaha...you got what you paid a whopping 5 bucks for, and those were a couple hours of your life you can't get back.
CUP, seriously. You say you're going to "wow people" with the concert line up you come up with, at least make it a good thing instead of causing the majority of students to do facepalms.