Ritmo Packed for Opening

Friday night marked the opening of UCSD’s new live entertainment venue, “”Club Ritmo,”” which featured headliner Tone Loc with special guest Candyman.

The event, sponsored by the A.S. Council, took place from 8:30 p.m. to midnight at the Stage at Porter’s Pub.

After arriving at approximately 10:30 p.m., Tone Loc took the stage to perform perennial favorites and his two most famous songs, “”Wild Thing”” and “”Funky Cold Medina.””

Eisha Christian, A.S. co-assistant commissioner of programming and one of Club Ritmo’s main coordinators, was enthusiastic about its initial success.

“”The club did awesome for its opening night,”” Christian said. “”I had tons of people come and say they loved the idea that Friday nights were going to be a happening place at the Pub.””

A.S. Production Manager Steve Evans monitored the club’s ticket count that night and confirmed its high turnout.

Evans reported that attendance averaged approximately 500 people throughout the night. Toward the time of Tone Loc’s performance, the number increased as Porter’s Pub neared its maximum capacity, with almost 700 people in attendance.

“”It was a packed house and there was a really early crowd from the start — the perfect amount of people, really,”” Evans said. “”A very large majority of the people were UCSD students.””

Opening for the band were DJs from UCSD’s DJs and Vinylphiles Club and the rap group L.A. Symphony.

Christian expressed her appreciation of all the night’s talent, especially L.A. Symphony for extending their performance, as Tone Loc arrived later than expected.

“”They all did an awesome job,”” Christian said. “”But the response for L.A. Symphony was huge.””

Impressed with the turnout at the event, Pigeon John of L.A. Symphony shared the band’s thoughts before performing.

“”We’re pretty honored just to open up,”” John said. “”[All of us] are just thankful that we got booked and we’re gonna give them a great show.””

On opening night, Cassandra Williams, A.S. commissioner of programming and another substantial player in the development of Club Ritmo, credited Christian and Ferasat for being there from the start in Club Ritmo’s evolution.

“”I give them mad props just for getting here, to this point where they got a club open on campus,”” Williams said. “”Tonight is for Eisha and Anahita to just be in the clouds because they’ve helped in creating a buzz around all the UC schools, since none of the others has an on-campus night club.””

Anahita Ferasat, A.S. co-assistant commissioner of programming and the other main coordinator of Club Ritmo, said that talks about creating a campus-wide night club were always present among A.S. members in one form or another.

Ryan Taylor, a Revelle sophomore, showed his support for the club.

“”It’s totally new and it looks like it’ll be cool in the future,”” Taylor said. “”I’m definitely gonna be here next week.””

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