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8:10 p.m. Girls in blue, pink and leopard print heels strut back and forth across the floor. A guy with crutches hobbles over to his group of friends. On the left side of the stage, a group of six or seven security guards clutter together. On stage, someone played music from his Mac laptop, but few paid attention to him.

That someone was a DJ from The Hood Internet, one of the featured artists of the fall concert, but no one seemed to know this until the end of his performance.

Some attendees said they thought he was the warm-up performer, only there to occupy the crowd.

The DJ can’t be blamed however, as the audience consisted of perhaps less than 50 people in the first half hour. He seemed mainly focused on his Mac computer, while played mashups of popular songs. Also, as a DJ, he is not expected to focus on performing.

At about 9 p.m., the people who were in attendance rushed to the barricade to get a good look at Hoodie Allen.

The New York-based rapper and singer came onstage with enthusiasm. He played his uplifting song “Can’t Hold Me Down,” which drew a reaction from crowd, raising their arms up and down.

He took the time to thank supporters in between songs.

Far East Movement headed on stage last at around 10 p.m., with the song “Party Rock” by LMFAO playing in the background. It was a fitting introduction, as later this November, Far East Movement will be performing with the uncle-nephew duo.

The stagelights and sound system were cranked to full blast, but this did not seem to satisfy the audience. Twenty minutes into the headlining group’s performance, people began to leave.

Far East Movement performed pieces like “So What” and “If I Was You.” Towards the end, they played a few songs that were still work in progress.

The advantage of having a small crowd was that many students were able to pose and take pictures with the fall concert artists.

Around 400 tickets, a majority bought by students, were sold, according to representatives of Fairfield University Student Association (FUSA).

FUSA secretary of marketing and public relations Arianna Savant ‘14 noted that the price of the tickets may not have appealed to students. Also, she believes that the number of attendees could have been affected by Halloween weekend.

“I was hoping it [the concert] would have been better … I’m glad for people who went, they had a great time,” said director of concert programming Rob Goger ’14.

Savant also said that the turnout of the concert was not what FUSA “envisioned or hoped,” but they’ve learned from the mistakes and will make changes in the future.

FUSA hopes to implement change by lowering ticket prices to $20 or less.

They will also try and find a date that is feasible for potential artists, the venue of the performances, and most importantly, the students.

“It’s really a logistic game that we’re playing,” said Savant.

They are also planning to release a mass survey in the spring so that students can have a say in the artist choice.

In doing this, vice president Rob Vogel ’13 stated, “We want to give the students what they want.”

Michael Leavitt ’12, also director of concert programming, echoed Vogel’s statement, saying, “We’re looking to get you the most value for your tickets regardless of what that act is.”

However, Vogel, Goger and Savant thought the execution of the concert and its detail were fine. “Everything went smoothly from setting up to breaking down,” Savant said.

Overall, students’ reactions to the concert appeared lukewarm. Junior Huythang Tran believed the tickets were worth it, if only students were “willing to wait for Far East Movement to come on.”

Freshman Alexandra Eagleson said she listened to Hoodie Allen the whole week before the show and that she enjoyed his performance.

However, she noted the small attendance during his performance by saying, “There’s not a lot of people because no one really knows Hoodie Allen.”

 

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