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KRIS HARRIS
Special to The Leader
This past Saturday Fredonia students were ready to go “All Night Longer” as Spectrum Entertainment presented its Spring Concert. Featuring a mix of big names and strong local talent, Steele Hall turned from a gymnasium to a dynamic party.
“I thought it went really well,” said junior business finance major, and President of Spectrum, Rachel Ando. “We doubled our ticket sales from last year. We’ve gotten all positie feedback as of right now. This was our first year doing the rap/hip hop genre and it was nice to see that we had a good turnout.”
First on the bill was Cameron Orlando, better known as ĆEO. While only given 10 minutes on stage, the sophomore media management major made maximum use of his time. Beginning his set with a quick shootout to the late Prince, the rapper was extremely charismatic on stage, holding down the crowd. Orlando managed to gain the opening spot through a rap battle a few weeks ago also hosted by Spectrum.
Even when his time was done, Orlando did not stop, continuing to speak rhymes with no beat, getting his point across before he left the stage.
Up next was Dev11n, who is not only an artist hailing from Buffalo, but a Fredonia graduate herself. Throughout her performance she reminisced of her time here at Fredonia, talking about how only years ago she was graduating in the same gymnasium, only to be know performing in front of the student body.
Storytelling is a key element of Dev11n’s performance, as she performed material from her last EP, “#The11thHour” and her upcoming EP, “#1.” However, the audience’s energy often died down at times as Dev11n frequently would explain her craft in between material. The artist flawlessly switched between her singing and rapping, and this was key to regain the crowd’s interest.
Sophomore childhood education major Taylor Chwalinski felt a sense of pride seeing fellow Fredonians on stage.
“I thought that each of the performances brought their love and passion for music and performing; I thought it was really cool to have two artists from our school performing,” she said. “I had a great time listening to our very own Blue Devils, whether they be past or present — it made me feel really proud to be a Blue Devil.”
Bryce Vine was next to entertain the crowd. Born in NYC but based currently in Los Angeles, Vine played several of his major hits such as the upbeat “Sour Patch Kids” and the swaggering “Guilty Pleasure.”
Midway through his set there were two fights that broke out, but were immediately resolved by the student security staff, members of Spectrum and University Police.
His DJ, Skizz Marquee, pulled out a trumpet for some live instrumentation during Vine’s set. It was very refreshing as all the sets consisted of a rapper and a DJ. Before Sammy Adams, his DJ played a quick hype set to get the crowd roaring for the “Boston Boy.”
As soon as he stepped on to stage, Adams took control the room. He was a true showman, immediately running up to the front of the stage and getting personal with the crowd.
“I thought it was so much fun,” said Ando. All of the performers — they all were so nice and cooperative and friendly. It’s nerve wracking to put on a show [like this] but it was so fun.”
Often through his performance Adams would throw water over the crowd from water bottles, asking for more energy. Both Vine and Adams had a similar vibe, falling along the line of pop-rap. However, Adams tended to lean more to electronic sounds, and there were many heavy bass drops.
At a point in the set, Adams ask the crowd where everyone was going tonight and many responded with the names of local bars like Valentine’s and BJ’s. A surprise was that the “Local Hot Spot,” Sunny’s, was not thrown into the mix, as the feeling in the gymnasium surely reflected the local nightclub.
Before the show, several student had the opportunity to meet Vine and Adams. Sophomore audio/radio production major Noah Maciejewski was one of those students and thoroughly enjoyed himself.
“Sammy and Bryce were incredible at the meet and greet. Not a lot of people were there, which was awesome. It was nice to have an intimate group.” Maciejewski said. “They were both super nice guys, which honestly I was expecting the opposite. Sammy and Bryce both took pictures, signed photos and did audio recordings for me.”
Maciejewski also overall believed that the show was a success.
“I thought everything was well done and that these acts were a good fit for Fred.” he said. “I think Spectrum is on the right path by rotating different types of artists every year to play to different crowds.”