Crowds of Fairfield students could be seen singing along with T-Pain when he performed at Alumni Hall on Friday, Oct. 13 for the Fairfield University Student Association Fall Concert. The event, which was preceded by the annual Red Sea Madness pep rally, was met by a mostly positive response from the student body.

“T-Pain was a blast, from his old timeless songs like ‘Bartender’ to his new song, ‘Goal Line.’ It was a very fun night,” said Matt Coleman ‘20.

Last year, the FUSA Fall Concert performer was up-and-coming rapper Lil Dicky. Similarly to the Lil Dicky concert, the T-Pain concert was general admission and students stood on the floor of Alumni Hall to watch the show. Many students pushed their way to be right in front of the stage. Assistant Director of Public Safety John Ritchie commented on the problems associated with this.

“The University is looking at the feasibility of future events, because pushing and shoving jeopardizes the safety and wellness of the student populace, and it is concerning to us,” said Ritchie. “As much as we want to provide students with memorable events, we can’t allow students to be injured in the process.”

When asked to compare this behavior with that of the students at the Lil Dicky concert last year, Ritchie added, “This behavior was comparable to the Lil Dicky concert last year. We increased staff at T-Pain in response to the Lil Dicky concert. However, since it happened again, regardless of increased staff, we have to revisit the operations of the event.”

Ritchie discussed the possibility of changing the concerts to seated events.

Junior Santiago Esteve agreed with the sentiment that the event was almost too crowded.

“T-Pain put on a great show, but my only wish was for a larger venue. It was very packed and sweaty in Alumni Hall.”

Outside of Alumni Hall, all concertgoers had access to five different food trucks: Taco Loco, Colony Grill, Super Duper Weenie, Dogtown and Garden Catering, according to Danielle Rice ‘19, director of the FUSA Programming Board.

After the pep rally, the crowd was asked to leave Alumni Hall as FUSA members set up the stage for the performance. Afterwards, the crowds rushed to the floor of Alumni Hall in front of the stage.

T-Pain performed many of his classic songs, as well as some new ones, with the help of a DJ.

“The whole atmosphere was electric and T-Pain’s performance tops Lil Dicky,” said Conor Malone ‘20.

According to Rice, the turnout of the concert was one of the most successful that FUSA has ever put on.

“Selling over 2,200 tickets, the night of the event over 1,900 people were in attendance,” said Rice. “This is a big difference than Lil Dicky last year; we only had over 1,000 people at that concert. Overall, the concert was received well by students. T-Pain put on a great show and we couldn’t be happier with his performance.”

The Associate Director of the FUSA Programming Board Olivia McEvoy ‘19 agreed with this sentiment.

“Students seemed really excited not only about the artist choice, but also the event as a whole, from the food trucks to our partnership with athletics with Red Sea Madness. Overall, we couldn’t be happier with how the event was perceived by the Fairfield community,” said McEvoy.

According to Ritchie, 25 students were examined for alcohol and/or narcotic ingestion. Of these 25, five students were transported to the hospital.

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-- Junior | Co-News Editor -- English: Education

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