A red wristwatch, one of the College’s basketball jerseys, “Party Rock” foam fingers, glow sticks, confetti and condoms in zebra-print wrappers were among the items tossed into the sea of students by performers at the College’s Spring Fest 2011.
The show, presented by the College Union Board on Tuesday, March 29, featured musical artists LMFAO, Mike Posner and Sam Adams.
Audience members lunged toward the treats, pushing forward and waving their arms frantically. Those lucky enough to acquire any airborne artifacts gripped these items tightly, refusing to let go.
Electronic hip-hop duo LMFAO doused the crowd in sparkling cider, as they explained that they weren’t allowed to bring actual alcohol into the Recreation Center.
This, of course, was prior to performing their song “Shots.”
With shiny purple pants and white sunglasses, Redfoo was joined on stage by his partner in rhyme — Sky Blu, wearing a “Hi Mom” T-shirt, which he said makes a cameo in all of their videos.
The two catered to the College audience by changing the lyrics in their song that’s normally about being in Miami. As they sang “I’m in New Jersey, bitch,” the crowd erupted in cheers.
This impromptu remix is not their only association with the state; the pair is responsible for “Get Crazy,” the song that plays as the theme for MTV’s megahit “Jersey Shore.”
In a pre-show interview with The Signal, LMFAO praised the “Shore,” somewhat sarcastically, as having an “amazing cast” and categorizing it as a “dynamic show.”
Redfoo explained the magic, as he said, “I remember when I saw the first episode ever and Snooki had a real attitude, and she just didn’t give a fuck. They were like, ‘You’re gonna be working. You’re gonna be doing this.’ And she was like, ‘Look, I don’t work.’ It was crazy.”
Additionally, they mentioned how MTV has yet to play their “Party Rock Anthem” music video but added that they would love for them to show this video so they could finally fulfill their dreams of hosting MTV’s next Video Music Awards.
As LMFAO danced around on stage with members of their Party Rock Crew, images of SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star flashed on the screen in an explosion of neon colors. At one point, Redfoo jumped into the crowd.
Mike Posner also took a dive into the audience earlier in the evening. This was not the only commonality of the night, however.
Performers Posner and Sam Adams shared similar wardrobes, each starting their sets in varsity jackets, which could be considered appropriate since it hasn’t been too long since either was in school.
Twenty-three-year-old Posner, who opened the show with his single “Please Don’t Go,” graduated from Duke University just last May and made sure to complete his degree,
despite the fact that he had already signed a record deal and was recording an album.
He explained to The Signal prior to his performance, “Most people in the world don’t get the opportunity to go to college at all — let alone a college like Duke, so it was important for me and my family for me to finish and get my degree.”
While he found himself “juggling the two,” he was always making beats in his dorm room and going to class on weekdays, and then flying out to record on Thursdays.
Reflecting back on his musical accomplishments from the past year, Posner said, “These were all goals of mine. I didn’t think that they would become realities as quickly as they did.”
On his latest single “Bow Chicka Wow Wow,” he collaborates with Lil’ Wayne.
When performing this song for the College, he called a female audience member on stage to serenade and handed her a teddy bear while the lyrics appropriately chronicled his actions, crooning “I gave you flowers and a teddy.”
Performing at Spring Fest was the first stop on Posner’s spring tour, he said.
“Is the College ready to party with us?” Posner asked students, before saying that although he’s been to other colleges, “I’m going to venture to say you are the rowdiest crowd of them all.”
Sam Adams also commented on the audience’s abundance of energy.
“It’s really interesting to see how the crowd reacts to different songs, so we sort of build our set while we go,” Adams said during a Signal sit-down after his performance. “Unlike most people that have a routine or a set and the band knows when to transition, we sort of just ad-lib that ‘cause we just like to have fun.”
During the concert, Adams asked the crowd if they liked dubstep, to which the audience crazily cheered. Realizing they were such fans of the bass-heavy genre, he then incorporated more dubstep into the show with songs like “Some Chords.”
While he has a song called “I Hate College,” Adams admittedly does not detest institutions of higher education.
“I loved it,” Adams explained in the post-show interview. “It was more just defining my hate for my teachers and being in class.”
It is because of the connections he made during his years in school that Adams was able to sell as many songs as he did last year, even causing critics to accuse him of buying all his own music, Adams said.
In their eyes, he came out of nowhere, but according to Adams, his ever-growing fan base stems from word of mouth and keeping good relationships with people.
The 22-year-old is passionate about positivity, and it is this optimism reflected in his music that’s caused some to question his credentials.
“There’s a lot of critics and hip-hop people who are like, ‘He’s not hip hop. He’s not rap,’” Adams said, discussing the discrepancy. “It’s like — good, don’t put me in that fucking genre anyway. I’m ‘a good time’ music.”
Adams brought his “good time” to the College, as audience members went wild for his song “Driving Me Crazy.”
Jamie Primeau can be reached at primeau2@tcnj.edu.
For sound clips and excerpts from The Signal's interviews with the artists, click here.
