DePauw has always had a reputation of being a very outgoing school, to say the least. Students are very passionate and energetic about such things as schoolwork, greek life and extracurricular activities. It is evident they also take advantage of any opportunity to make their zealousness known, such as dances, Monon or greek-endorsed events.
This past Friday's concert was an excellent opportunity for all of that. It featured Fedel, an up-and-coming underground rapper from New York who graduated from DePauw in 2008 and also is a trainer and mentor for Posse New York students. Audiodax followed, featuring two former students, Thomas Balcom and Matt Rivera, both members of Beta Theta Pi fraternity who currently live and record music in Los Angeles.
Chiddy Bang, a well-known rapper who has made numerous successful songs of multimillion viral hits and who is getting attention from national festivals such as Lollapalooza, was featured as the headliner.
Though the event had all of this in its favor, including the excitement of Halloween weekend, the spectator side failed.
A total of 400 tickets were sold for $5 each, but it seemed like only half of those who purchased tickets, at best, were there. Those in attendance didn't even make the best of the situation. Students were spread out and did not form a large pit or pack. A reasonably sized group of excited spectators formed around the right corner, but their intensity was unfortunately not picked up by anyone else.
Some of this may be credited to the location of the concert. Kresge Auditorium is a great venue for serious discussions with Jackson Katz and Yo-Yo Ma, but not for an upbeat pop or intensive rap concert.
A location like the Lilly Center would have made for a much more inclusive environment. Students would have been able to form themselves into a pit, and would naturally flow to the front toward the stage.
A setting like this would make it a lot more fun for the performers as well. Halfway through the concert, Chiddy Bang's drummer/sidekick/musical extraordinaire Xaphoon Jones jumped into the crowd and through the second row. At a normal concert this would have been seen as an exciting surprise and embraced by all. At this event, however, Xaphoon had to nudge his way through the aisle and around awkwardly standing fans as though he was leaving a movie to use the bathroom.
Musically, I was highly impressed with Chiddy Bang. At almost every concert, he is known to attempt a freestyle using topics that the crowd chooses at random. With the requested choices including boulder runs, yoga pants and a strong word against Wabash, Chiddy executed his freestyle.
The crowd got a unique opportunity at being the first to ever hear Chiddy Bang's new song "Talkin' to Myself." This song had never been sampled for an audience before and will be featured on his next album.
His most popular songs were all brought on with a warm reception. "Truth," a song with a very energetic and happy intro that later serves as its chorus, brought additional excitement to the crowd and seemed to get them more engaged and out of their comfy red chairs.
"Mind Your Manners" was a hit for all fans, as it seemed many knew the lyrics and yelled them right back in unison. The most anticipated song of all, "Opposite of Adults," was strongly requested by the audience after each song prior to it. Xaphoon Jones started off the introductory melody on the grand piano but quickly ran to his drum set and played with an intensity that stood out to me above many concerts I have seen in the past. His energy kicked off a song that everyone knew would be the best, and truly took it to the next level.
In total, I hope that the featured spring Union Board concert has a crowd with more of a purpose and intensity. If more students attend and get into what a great artist has to offer, it could truly add up to be one of the most memorable moments of the year.
— Easterhouse is a freshman from Evergreen Park, Il, majoring in communications.
features@thedepauw.com