About 4,000 students attended this year’s FallFest, which featured musical guests the Pharcyde, Midtown and Common at RIMAC Arena on Oct. 3.
“”We were completely blown away with the show,”” A.S. Commissioner of Programming Alex Kushner said. “”It was extremely smooth and there were no major problems.””
Los Angeles rap group the Pharcyde kicked off the concert at 7:30 p.m., with students continuing to fill the venue as the group began their performance. While many students remained in the stands, those who stood near the stage covered nearly half of the arena floor, exhibiting an enthusiastic and energetic participation with the group.
Some students, however, did not appreciate the lyrical content of the Pharcyde’s songs.
“”I didn’t like what the songs were about because it doesn’t send out the right message,”” said Eleanor Roosevelt College sophomore Jennifer Figueroa, in reference to the group’s frequent mentions of marijuana.
Shortly after the Pharcyde’s performance, pop-punk band Midtown was prepared and ready to begin their set. As the band began to play, many students rushed down to the arena floor.
“”I loved tonight,”” said Midtown drummer Rob Hitt. “”Everything was great. It’s very good to know that college kids are open-minded and able to go crazy [for] all the bands.””
Near the end of the night, a shift in music genre occurred once again. The closing act was Common, a hip-hop emcee from Brooklyn, N.Y., who drew a large crowd of students that began dancing as soon as the music began playing.
Common even called up two students from the crowd to become a part of his performance. A female was asked to join Common onstage, while later in the show, a male was asked to perform as an emcee with him. Nearing the end of the show, all attention was turned toward Common’s DJ as he performed a five-minute solo that electrified an already captivated and interactive crowd.
“”It keeps on getting better every year,”” John Muir College senior John Chang said.
Host DJ Lambda was surprised with the crowd’s response and praised the variety of the different musical acts of the night.
“”[The crowd] was better than I expected for a college crowd,”” he said. “”It was awesome ‹ the [A.S. organizers] got music from all the genres.””
FallFest was one of the first free and highly publicized A.S. events of the new school year. The combination of rap, pop-punk and hip-hop drew a large and diverse crowd.
Kushner was satisfied with the night’s turnout.
“”All the bands just love our school, and the school seems to love the bands,”” he said.
When asked if he’d like to see any improvements next year, Kushner said, “”Just bigger and better.””
