Kendrick Lamar Steve Aoki Bad Raabbits 5 & A Dime
Every spring at Kent Sate, students gather together and celebrate the campus wide event called Flash Fest. This year’s annual concert included Karmaloop’s Verge Campus 2013 Spring Tour with performances by Kendrick Lamar, Steve Aoki, Bad Rabbits and 5 & a Dime.
Why Flash Fest?
Flash Fest is an annual spring time event organized by the undergraduate student government (USG) of Kent State. The purpose of this event is to let the students enjoy one last festival before the end of the spring semester. Flash Fest also serves as the venue to announce the winners of the Flash Perks grand prizes. The prizes this year included free tuition for one year, a Surly Pugsley bike from Portage Cyclery free pizza from Domino’s for one year and six-months of free rent to Campus Pointe Apartments.
Beginning at 6 p.m. on Saturday April 18th, the students of Kent State University began to line up in front of the M.A.C. center with plans of seeing two headlining artists; Kendrick Lamar and Steve Aoki live in concert.
Kendrick Lamar.
The Compton born rapper, Kendrick Lamar, entertained the crowd with his hard-hitting lyrics and on-stage exuberance. Kendrick Lamar captivated the Kent State audience from the start by opening his act with Top Dog Entertainment DJ Ali. After electrifying the audience with excitement and enthusiasm, Kendrick Lamar appeared on stage and began performing songs from all three of his albums. Overly Dedicated (2010), Section.80 (2011) and his most recent album, good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012). While dressed from head to toe in all black, the lyrical genius, Kendrick Lamar put on a show to remember. He integrated freestyle and a Capella into his performance by telling his DJ to cut the music while he finished the song. Not that he was alone. The audience seemed to know every word and proudly sang alongside. Upon completing his performance, Kendrick Lamar invited several Kent State students on stage to share the spotlight.
Steve Aoki.
Steve Aoki is an American electro-house musician, record producer and the founder of Dim Mak Records. Only a few artists could follow such an intense performance from Kendrick Lamar. Steve Aoki was one of those few. The energy was set as the 35-year-old electro-house pioneer took to the stage. In complete darkness, Steve Aoki began his set with a high energy electric beat. Soon the lights were initiated and the crowd began to jump up and down to the opening song. The crowd was dancing and lights were flashing as the dubstep womps and wobbles rang throughout the M.A.C. center. Aoki began to perform his hit song, Turbulence. Then, without any hesitation, Steve Aoki stood on top of the DJ table while holding high a bottle of champagne. The artist took the concert to a whole other level by introducing his signature stage antics. Aoki began to ‘cake’ the audience. Along with providing dessert to the audience, he then introduced a blow-up raft used to crowd surf. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” said Kent State sophomore, Chelsea Hvizda. “He was rafting over the audience!”
Aoki wrapped up his finale and the audience exploded with applause. The concert was over and the students of Kent State were left with only the vivid memories of their experience at Flash Fest 2013.
Flash Fest 