Students swarmed University Yard Saturday night for Fall Fest, treated to the freestyle raps of electronic-pop duo Timeflies and the mash-up hits of DJ Earworm.
Despite Timeflies’ witty GW-centric references to Kerry Washington and the GW Deli, some students bemoaned his set for not living up to rapper Macklemore’s Spring Fling performance. Jonathan Carfagno, executive chair of Program Board, said the organization picked Timeflies because “we want GW to be one of those universities that had them first.”
But the college concert circuit this year proves that our Fall Fest could have been worse. Other organizers look like they went for washed-up instead of on-the-rise. Check out these other woeful campus concerts from schools across the country this year.
This spring, Binghamton University hosted Yellowcard – yes, the ones that produced “Ocean Avenue” in 2004. They regularly pop up on Pandora’s “early 2000s” playlist between Bowling for Soup and Simple Plan. That’s great if you want nostalgia pumped into your veins, but you don’t exactly want your campus performer to evoke the question: “Wonder what they’ve been up to lately?”
In September, Rutgers University will welcome your favorite band from middle school, Mayday Parade. Though the band will be releasing their first album since 2011 this fall, they will forever conjure up painful memories of songs like the Pussycat Dolls single “When I Grow Up” blasting at prepubescent dances in the school gymnasium.
Students at Baruch College endured the music of JoJo, whose biggest hit, “Leave (Get Out)” came out nine years ago. Since then, the singer’s resume has included sub-par acting roles (2006’s “RV”) and a now obsolete shoe line.
Tufts University students were treated to a performance by Nelly at their Spring Fling last year. Aside from the overplayed “Just a Dream” in 2010, Nelly’s biggest contribution to contemporary pop culture has been to introduce grillz to droves of middle schoolers who replicated the look with gum wrappers.
