Blackbear and Gryffin will take the stage at this year’s Spring Fling in the Smith Center on April 27, Program Board announced Friday evening.
Blackbear is known for his R&B and rap music with songs like “do re mi” and “idfc,” and he is expected to release his fifth studio album, “ANONYMOUS,” on April 26 – just one day before Spring Fling. Gryffin is a DJ who remixes hit songs like “Feel it Still” by Portugal. The Man and Tove Lo’s “Talking Body.”
Caitlin Hartman, the director of marketing for Program Board, said the organization wanted to make sure the two artists were from different genres to better “engage a wide variety of students.”
“They’re both really popular artists in their genres,” Hartman said. “They have a pretty different set of music, but also kind of go really well together. We think that it will create a really cool experience.”
The event will take place in the Smith Center for the first time. Hartman added that the switch to the Smith Center would make inclement weather easier to deal with while creating “a bigger and more exciting experience for everyone.”
At Fall Fest in 2017 – which was the last event before the organization switched to hosting a Welcome Week comedy show – inclement weather led to set changes and a dismal turnout.
If you didn’t receive a welcome package – which included a wristband that guarantees floor access in the Smith Center – during the announcement Friday evening, Program Board will be giving away a limited amount of additional wristbands throughout the week leading up to Spring Fling. The additional wristband giveaways will be announced on Program Board’s social media accounts.
Floor access will be restricted to wristband holders. General bleacher admission will be granted through the Smith Center entrances at 23 and G Streets and 22 and F Streets. The general admission will be granted to those with a GWorld card and each GWorld holder can bring one guest.
Shaan Kapadia, the vice chairperson of Program Board, said the transition from University Yard to the Smith Center was easier because Program Board hosted Hasan Minhaj in the Smith Center in September for their first Welcome Week comedy show.
“We just had to up the ante a little bit going from a comedy show to a concert,” Kapadia said.
Kapadia said this is also the first academic year that Program Board is only hosting one concert because Fall Fest was replaced by a comedy show.
“We definitely wanted to make sure that if we were only doing one concert, we were upping the caliber of the event and making sure students were still getting a really phenomenal music experience,” Kapadia said.
