As the seats of a sold-out Welte Auditorium began to fill, eager fans patiently waited for the arrival of singer/songwriter Blackbear. He, along with A Boogie wit da Hoodie, made up Central Connecticut’s 2019 Spring Concert.

When Blackbear stepped on the stage the lights dimmed. Flashes of green and pink began to shine as he began his hour-long set.

The Daytona, Florida native was active during his performance, bouncing from the left side of the stage to the right, even gracing the front row fans by joining them in the crowd.

Some fans felt that Blackbear’s showmanship was a highlight of the event.

“This is hands down the best Spring Concert I’ve been to. I’ve been to the last four and this tops them all,” Victoria Minervino said. “I don’t like watching an artist dance around to their song instead of performing like Blackbear did.”

Blackbear performed some of his most popular songs including, “idfc,” “juicy sweatpants” and “Deadroses.” However, towards the end of his set fans began chanting for his most popular song, “do re mi.” As the chants grew louder, Blackbear began signing and confetti covered the crowd. As he left the stage fans continued chanting his name.

Following Blackbear, out came A Boogie wit da Hoodie. After a brief DJ set, the New York rapper made his way onto the stage to a roar from the crowd. As blue and red lights began flickering the noise only accelerated. The sold-out show was prepared and excited to see the night’s headliner.

Performing some of his hit songs such as “Look Back It,” “Drowning” and “Beast Mode” fans stayed standing and cheering the whole time.

For some CCSU student’s A Boogie’s arrival marked the end of a long wait.

“I’ve been an A Boogie fan since he first came out,” Darren Battle said. “His music gets you dancing, it gets you moving. I was excited when A Boogie was announced, I was pulling for him.”

Other students entered the concert not knowing much about the artist, but left as a fan.

“I thought A Boogie sounded really good. I was there to see Blackbear but I stayed for the whole thing,” Erica Kulla said. “I knew only a few of his songs but it was still enjoyable to stay and watch especially because a lot of other students were having a great time.”

Whether fans were there to see Blackbear, A Boogie or both, the organizer, Central Activities Network wanted to make sure the show was much more modern than last year.

“Honestly this year we needed a redemption from last year,” Taia Lionetti, President of C.A.N. said. “Blackbear pulls from a little bit of different group than A Boogie and we wanted to meld those together this year and bring in something a little different while also keeping the same students happy.”

Despite the concert taking place in April of 2019, Lionetti stated that the planning for this year’s Spring Concert started at the beginning of the Fall semester.

“We started asking students who they wanted to see come to campus, we took those names and reached out to our agent and asked who can we actually book and bring to Spring Concert,” Lionetti said.

Lionetti said that she a had a feeling that the show would sell out, but was still in awe when the feat was actually accomplished. She went on to say that going forward the students will continue to make the biggest difference.

“The whole reason why our organization exists and our whole motive and purpose and why we do what we do is for the students,” Lionetti said. “Really just keeping the student in mind and keep evolving the Spring Concert. We want it to be fun and rowdy and all inclusive so moving in bigger directions towards that will be seen in the next semester.”

Going into next year some students said they would want for next year’s show some answers included Lil Yachty, NBA Youngboy and Lil Uzi Vert.

As for Blackbear and A Boogie wit da Hoodie, the sold-out theater’s momentous cheers proved that the show had been a success.