This year’s Juice Jam Festival was filled with the usual madness and mayhem, and Lupe Fiasco proved to be worth the wait — and the rain, and even the possible head trauma from all the crowd surfing. The concert was the first to be sold out in Juice Jam’s seven-year history, and the disappointing weather didn’t prevent thousands of students from mobbing the stage in excitement, even as the microphone guys conducted a soundcheck.

Despite the rapidity at which the tickets sold out, both under and upperclassmen could be found milling around on the grass and socializing as they waited for Fiasco’s performance. The opportunity to run into so many of your friends in one place is one of the additional perks of Juice Jam. For seniors, it is reminiscent of a typical night at the bars. For freshman, it is a preview of the next four years.

But ultimately, it was Fiasco who brought down the house. He is clearly a favorite at Syracuse University, as this is his second show here in the past five years. He sang an equal mix of both old and new songs, ending with the hit ‘Superstar’ and then encoring with another hit, ‘Daydreamin’.’ To the great pleasure of many fans, he even dedicated his first ever single, ‘Kick, Push,’ to SU. He completely ignored the incessant crowd surfing that went on, as well as the various students who challenged him to rap battles. At one point, he had the crowd so rapt with attention that when he stopped the music to sing a verse from one of his new songs, there was dead silence.

Senior management major Brian Goldman, who saw his favorite band, Bloc Party, play at last year’s Juice Jam, was still extremely impressed with this year’s lineup.

‘From moshing to crowd surfing, the crowd was definitely raging, the artists were all great, and if it weren’t for the groggy weather, this show might’ve actually been my most memorable,’ said Goldman.

Juice Jam is known for its rain or shine policy, and performances such as this one maintain the success rate of that policy. As the rain got stronger during Lupe’s performance, students just pumped their fists harder and stayed where they were.

Hundreds of students were mingling at Skytop Field from as early as 12 p.m., with many staying all the way through until 6 p.m., easily making Juice Jam one of the most heavily populated Sunday events on campus. When walking off the field at the end of show, various people could be heard exclaiming that they had been pleasantly surprised by the experience and/or would be downloading some of the music they’d heard.  

Perhaps the only problem with the whole concert was visibility. Students of all shapes and sizes were crowded together uncomfortably close throughout the three acts. But even if you couldn’t see, you could still hear. The entire audience sang back the last chorus to ‘Superstar,’ and you didn’t have to see Lupe to participate or enjoy it.

But was the experience all that it was cracked up to be? Well, if you made it out alive, I would definitely say, ‘Yes.’     

Marina Charney is a senior English and textual studies and writing major. Her column appears weekly, and she can be reached at mcharney@syr.edu.

Published on September 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm