The 21st annual Sun God festival began at 10 a.m. with activity, food and information booths scattered throughout campus. It concluded with a concert at RIMAC Field that drew nearly 15,000 students.
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“”This year was pretty excellent,”” A.S. Festival Co-coordinator Alex Kushner said. “”Relative to other years, it attracted about 3,000 on average.””
Concert doors opened at 5 p.m. when Beston and the Kitchen warmed up a small crowd from the newly introduced side stage. Students started flowing in steadily at 7 p.m. when Latin beat group Kinky took the stage. Natives of Tijuana, Mex., Kinky has been touring through Europe and Asia for the past year and loyal fans heartily welcomed them back during the 40-minute set.
“”Kinky got the crowd moving, and it was such a great energy because it was the best setup you could have had,”” said Earl Warren College sophomore Jorge Serrano.
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As soon as Kinky wrapped up their show, rock band White Starr immediately began its set on the second stage. An enthusiastic stage presence and interpretive dancer continued to draw a crowd throughout its show.
Even the bands had a good time at Sun God, as White Starr lead vocalist Asher Levin was spotted wandering around the RIMAC Field.
“”UCSD is a great school, and any party we get invited to we like to play,”” Levin said. “”If I send out the vibe to people, they dig it, and they want to come out and party too.””
Students had plenty of other venues to expel their Sun God spirit. A gauntlet of enormous inflatable slides and climbing walls occupied approximately one quarter of the field and many stood in long lines to jump on trampolines or whirl around in carnival rides.
Some students, however, took it upon themselves to stage their own entertainment. John Muir College sophomore Jessica Venturi and Warren senior Candice Jackman orchestrated an impromptu wrestling match, attracting much cheering and many spectators.
“”The match was just in the spirit of Sun God, and next time we plan to take bets,”” Jackman said. “”This is definitely the best Sun God I’ve been to because everyone is partying.””
Headliners Bad Religion and Mos Def drew the largest crowds to the main stage near the end of the night. Hostess Bianca Daly, who was running between the main and side stages in order to introduce each act, was enthusiastic about the night.
“”We really couldn’t have asked for a better night because the bands and students were awesome,”” she said. “”Everything went really well.””
Daly was scheduled to co-host with Jamal Douda, but Douda left the concert early due to illness.
Bad Religion vocalist Greg Graffin quipped during his time on stage, calling UCSD “”better than overrated Berkeley,”” the “”scholarly UC campus,”” but a school that “”still can’t compare to UCLA.””
Even those comments could not deter the audience from cheering Bad Religion through its hour and fifteen minute set.
Following Bad Religion, Crown City Rockers was the last act on the second stage and appealed to the pack of Bad Religion fans to attend their show by calling out, “”UCSD, come to me.”” The crowd listened, and Crown City Rockers warmed up the hip-hop fans for Mos Def, the final act of the night.
“”Overall, the night was a huge success with the second stage and smooth transitions,”” Kushner said. “”We had non-stop music until 11:30 p.m., and the only thing we are sorry about is that there was no DJ tent. Hopefully for next year, we can do both the side stage and the tent.””
