The University’s annual Homecoming Concert took place Oct. 17th in the basement gymnasium at One Pace Plaza. The venue was transformed into a hip-hop haven with University-event staple DJ Spynfo and guests of honor DJ Earworm, and rappers French Montana and B.O.B. in attendance.
The event began with DJ Spynfo on the turntables mixing classic Tupac and Biggie tunes as well as more recent club hits to warm up the, at times, unruly crowd. University mascot T-bone the Setter also joined the DJ to hype up the crowd for the main acts.
Nearly two hours after doors opened for the event, DJ Earworm, a San Francisco based DJ most famous for his yearly mashups of the top 25 songs from Billboard’s Year End Hot 100 took to the stage. Despite his mashups’ international acclaim, he only played his 2009 mix, “Don’t Stop the Pop,” his most commercially successful, which includes such groundbreaking chart toppers as Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” and Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance.” DJ Earworm’s set warmed up the crowd, but after about a half hour of his DJ-ing skills, the impatient crowd began to chant for French Montana, who was set to perform next.
An hour after DJ Earworm left the stage, Bronx-raised rapper French Montana stormed the stage decked out in gold chains and wearing oddly inappropriate sunglasses. Montana performed crowd favorites “Freaks” and “Ain’t Worried ‘bout Nothin,” before enthralling the crowd with his most recent breakout hit, “Pop That” which also features hip-hop heavyweight Rick Ross. Despite the obvious excitement for Montana’s appearance at the University, his lyrical content, which features lines like, “Shot him four times with the gun I was concealing,” has raised some questions about the appropriateness of the rapper’s appearance at the University. Despite the hushed criticisms, Rachel Wildner, P.A.C.E. Board Co-President said, “We chose the artists by student survery, cost and availability.”
B.o.B took the stage after French Montana. Despite his headlining status, a significant percentage of the crowd left after French Montana’s set. Despite the dwindling crowd, though, B.o.B. put on quite the show, performing his smash hits “Airplanes,” “Headbandz” and “We In This Bitch,” during which he crowd surfed over unexpecting students’ heads. The lively show also raised some eyebrows when an enthusiastic dancer began to dance provactively with the rapper.
Junior Steve Nolte said, “B.o.B.’s performance was pretty good, but I just felt it was a little inappropriate to see him gyrating with a teenaged girl on him. Just felt wrong for a University-level standard.”
Barring all criticisms, the concert was a huge success. Student tickets were sold out days before the concert, and “Non-University Student” priced tickets waned as the event’s opening night approached. The homecoming concert tradition is slated to continue next year.
