B.o.B

By Katie Rice

It may have been rainy and cold this past Saturday, but it was warm and dry inside of Sanford Field House, where B.o.B per­formed as the headlining act of Spring Party Weekend. Going on­stage just an hour after promised, B.o.B delivered a strong set of pop-infused rap. Despite the fact that he has only about four pop­ular songs, he was able to keep the crowd energized and involved. Even when there was a glitch in the Rivers Cuomo track, “Magic,” B.o.B was able to recover with his high energy and a rant against technology. In order to make up for the glitch, B.o.B picked up his guitar and revealed that he not only raps, but is also a guitar player. Along with his guitar playing, his backing by a full band including his sister on keyboards made his set feel like a rock show and not just a rap concert.

B.o.B’s stage presence was energetic and funny; he encouraged the crowd to take out their sunglasses for his song “Past My Shades” and called out a girl in the front row for not participating in a full crowd hand clap. True to his ladies’ man image, he pulled a few girls onstage to dance and sing along to arguably his most popular song, “Beautiful Girls.” The inevitable encore was one of the most impres­sive parts of the show. After a short break where students yelled for another song in unison, B.o.B returned to the stage and opened with a rap focused on overcoming adversities. After this rap, B.o.B turned to a cover of a Led Zeppelin song where he jumped around the stage to a drumroll pointing at girls in the crowd. He ended his show by throwing out a few of the CAB Spring Party Weekend shirts that he had signed, saying “No guys better leave here wearing these shirts!” and laughing. Overall B.o.B delivered a fun set, dotted with Top 40 hits, and got Saturday night off to a good start.

 

Giants of Science

By Maddy Tennis

Despite the rain, mud and sheer exhaustion that ev­ery Colgate student braved last weekend, Delta Upsilon was packed at the end of the long weekend. On Saturday, April 16, Giants of Science, a four piece retro-party cover band, filled the DU tent with the biggest hits from the 80s and 90s. Giants of Science has become a tradition at Colgate’s Spring Party Weekend, and the energetic and lively performance the band puts on is demonstrated by the huge attendance they get every year. The band truly represents the craziness so characteristic of Spring Party Weekend as they play favorite classics accompanied by a great light show. The fist-pumping and shouts emanating from the crowd were a sign of the satisfaction and pure contentment Colgate students all shared that weekend.

The band, adorned with lab coats, black t-shirts and painted faces knew just how to please the crowd. The per­formers said they love coming to Colgate every year, and jokingly observed, “Every time we come to Colgate, it’s 85 degrees and sunny!” Not only did Giants of Science enjoy their visit, but first year Tess Heffernan also said, “I forgot all about my dripping wet hair and clothes covered in mud as I got to hear the Giants of Science for the first time. It was so much fun, one of the best events of the weekend!” First-year Madeline Donovan agreed, claiming, “I am so excited to see them again next year. I loved listening to the classic rock songs – I never wanted it to end!” The band was a great conclusion to the weekend, and for all those that missed it, I hope you get the chance to see this awesome band next year.

 

Electronic Music and SPW

By Brad Ramsdell

By the time Friday evening rolled around, the campus climate was pretty sloshy. As a result, this coverage of Friday night’s show at Theta Chi will be a little less than exact. The bill for the show was “MSTRKRFT’s Al-P and XV & The Dean’s List, Official 2011 BroBible and Frat­music Animal House Tour,” which right there started me off on the wrong foot.

MSTRKRFT showed some promise, as this group consists of two guys who came together after the dissolu­tion of one of my favorite duos, Death From Above 1979. DFA79 was a band that was too fast and crazy to last, but their single album, You’re a Woman and I’m a Machine, has been one of my favorites since high school. Since one half of DFA79 is one half of MSTRKRFT, I thought they might have some promise for them. Sadly, their output has always been underwhelming; mediocrity is a very dif­ficult way to follow brilliance. I was still excited for the opportunity to meet Jesse (the DFA half of the group), but when I realized it was only Al-P, I was less enthused.

I don’t understand undying affection for generic tech­no and mash-ups, the music found all over fratmusic. com. I don’t want to say I hate electronic music, because that is quite false; I do want to say that everyone knows and loves Daft Punk, but the reason we love Daft Punk is because they wrote rock songs using house music as their tools. House music itself, like most techno, is really good only for the thizz face and dancing all night to the same beat. (The issue of the same repetitive beat over and over in the background also plagued Phi Tau on Friday after­noon; it’s a theme in techno performances).

Additionally, just like Daft Punk is the brilliant excep­tion to house music, Girl Talk is the brilliant exception to mash-ups, which are cool only under the conditions of the chosen songs being both creatively paired and actually well-executed. Since these two conditions are rarely ever satisfied, I have begun to harbor a great distaste for the mash-up genre and its lack of quality music. Any clown with a MacBook can download a couple of DJ programs and fade and layer songs so that they play simultaneously. Sadly, too many clowns have realized this.