Free, folksy concert kicks off Grand Prix celebrations
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 04/20/2009
Kevin Daly | Senior Photographer
Dan Layus of Augustana belts out a verse during PSG's student body concert Sunday.
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Sunday evening’s free concert at Elliott Hall of Music featured rap and folk music, a timid audience, and crowd control.
“It opened up with Wale which was pretty tight; he knows how to pump up a crowd,” said Chris Crockett, a freshman in the College of Science.
The group tried their hardest to break the relatively shy audience, singing “When I say ‘hip,’ you say ‘hop,’” or “When I say ‘nation,’ you say ‘rock.’” He commanded the audience to throw up their hands and at least act like they’ heard him.
Though Wale wasn’t the most well-known group, they definitely gained a greater fan base after performing at Purdue, including a group of around 20 girls from the audience brought on stage to dance. After that song, people were out of their seats, against the stage, throwing up their hands and dancing.
The Washington DC group, sounding similar to ’80s hip-hop, opposed the next act, Augustana, whose mellow concert featured folksy sounds of acoustic guitars, a harmonica and vocal harmonies.
The members of Augustana said they were a little intimidated after seeing Wale perform, saying it was a “party in here and now the audience is quiet.” The quiet atmosphere, however, fit the intimate and fairly small crowd.
Though audience members were asked to stay in their seats and not crowd the aisle, the band hinted to the audience to break a few rules and wondered if they had the power to allow audience members on stage.
“We weren’t doing anything that would breach safety,” said Mehtab Dhillon, a freshman in the College of Science.
Though there were no major problems, the audience forgot the rules and get closer to the stage towards the end of the concert.
“They’re moderating a concert but it always sucks, because you want to get closer to the band,” said Crockett.
At one point the group wanted to be closer and make the concert “less-awkward,” so they moved to the front of the stage and sang a Bob Dylan song with only their voices and an acoustic guitar.
“It’s always cool to see a band throw away the amps and electric guitars,” said Crockett.
After the concert finished and Augustana walked off stage, the crowd kept cheering and drumming on the stage for an encore.
The band appreciated the enthusiasm and played another intimate song to complete the concert.