The small audience at the Shwayze concert was not too familiar with the hip-hop artist’s new material but still vibed to the “West Coast Party” he brought from California to Heritage Hall at the HUB-Robeson Center Wednesday night.
Student Programming Association sponsored this free concert and made a last-minute decision to have student rapper Crystal Seth as Shwayze’s opening act.
Comparable to Asher Roth’s style of college rap, Crystal Seth sang a few tracks while donning a beanie with a pom-pom on top, including “Labyrinth,” which features Bubba Sparxxx.
Crystal Seth had a lot of engagement with the crowd, and it was clear that members of the audience were there to support him.
Continuously yelling Crystal Seth’s name towards the back of the venue, Seth’s friend, David Ashenfelter (junior-geography) said he thinks Crystal Seth is a devoted entrepreneur and loves his music which comes from the heart.
Kelly Jackson, also at the concert, said she mainly came to see Crystal Seth but had heard of Shwayze’s music, as well.
“Seth puts a lot of work into his music, and I just heard a lot of about this concert from word of mouth and around campus,” Jackson (junior-advertising) said.
Even with word of mouth, Heritage Hall was only about half full at most, and the smaller crowd might have had to do with Mr. and Mrs. THON pageant taking place at the same time.
Nicole Joseph said she wanted to make sure she was at the concert to see Shwayze perform his upbeat summer music.
“I like free concerts, and when I actually like the artist, it makes me really excited,” Joseph (senior-rehabilitation and human services) said. “Plus, ‘Shwayze’ is the Pandora station I listen to everyday.
After a rave-like DJ set played while the stage was set up, Shwayze greeted the crowd in an all-black outfit accessorized with a gold chain.
Shwayze began his set with a new song, “Bolt,” from his “Shwayzed and Confused” EP released earlier this month.
The audience seemed unfamiliar with Shwayze’s new tracks and was obviously more excited and moved closer up to the stage when he began performing his old-school tracks like “Roamin’” and “Drunk Off Your Love.”
Shwayze also mixed things up by doing a rendition of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s well-known track “Otherside” and also preformed his older track “Rich Girl” which features a sampling of The Virgin’s popular hipster jam, “Rich Girl.”
Die-hard fans were right up against the stage bobbing their heads and singing along the whole time, but the entire audience lit up and danced once Shwayze performed his most famous hits “Corona and Lime” and “Buzzin’.”
“I’m feeling pretty amazing right now,” Shwayze said.
At the end of his set, he introduced the crowd to his new song “Love is Overrated” by having the audience do a sing along and even had his DJ throw some copies of his EP out into the audience.
