Passion Pit’s lead singer Michael Angelakos screamed into the sea of students at Skytop Field.

‘How many of you started drinking at 8 o’clock? 10? 11? Now?’ Angelakos yelled.

From the crowd rose hundreds of arms and cheers in agreement.

Although Sunday’s Juice Jam Festival was the first to sell out in the event’s seven-year history, the large crowd did not prove to be any wilder than previous years, said staff from both the Department of Public Safety and Chestnut Street Security, Inc.

Sunday’s Juice Jam included performances from headline artist Lupe Fiasco and opening acts Super Mash Bros. and Passion Pit.

Maintaining safety at Juice Jam is a big operation that includes coordination between the Syracuse Fire Department, DPS, hired security and University Union, said DPS Cpl. Joe Shanley.

‘We formed a committee months ago to discuss the needs and desires of the concert,’ Shanley said. ‘There haven’t been any hiccups or headaches.’

Shanley said he likes working Juice Jam because the event is usually tame. His only grievance is the music; he said he wishes UU would invite more artists from the 1970s.

One of the main reasons UU only sold 5,000 tickets for the open-air concert was because they would have had to plan extra security if they sold more, including more DPS officers, medical staff and an on-site medical helicopter, said Andrew Beyda, the UU president.

Ticket prices would have had to increase to accommodate that number of security personnel, he said.

But increasing the cap is something UU intends to do in the future. And although a sellout feels good for the organizers of Juice Jam, Beyda said, they would rather not have to turn students away.

As for this year, Beyda said there was more than enough space for all the students who came.

One of the main concerns as Sunday approached was the weather forecast, which predicted temperatures in the 60s, with a 50 percent chance of rain.

Weather was threatening rain throughout Super Mash Bros., but there were patches of sun and blue sky halfway into Passion Pit’s performance. And although it began to sprinkle right before Lupe Fiasco took the stage, the worst of Sunday’s rain hit after the concert was over.

Despite the weather, students were not deterred from attending the concert.

Sylvia Gwozdz, a junior conservation biology major; Kristen Cadacio, a senior television, radio and film major; and Risa Hiser, a senior geography major, came prepared with an umbrella and said nothing would prevent them from seeing Passion Pit.

To cope with the cold, the three friends said they planned to get in the middle of the crowd in front of the stage to absorb the body heat.

Hiser said, ‘It’d be nice if they had hot chocolate.’

rastrum@syr.edu

—Asst. News Editor Rebecca Kheel contributed reporting to this article.

Published on September 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm