Cultural Event Number 2

This post might sound similar to the last cultural event that I went to because they are both about music.  I love music.  I’m just not the kind of guy that is into poetry and book readings and art exhibits.  But anyway, the Movin’ On Music Festival!  A free to the public music festival sponsored by the SPA, Movin’ On has been a tradition at Penn State since 1974 as a celebration of those Nittany Lions that will be graduating at the end of the semester. It is a kind of last hurrah! for the graduating seniors.

This year the lineup included Young the Giant, the Avett Brothers, the David Mayfield Parade, and Ludacris among others.  I was only interested in one of the bands there, Young the Giant.  The Irvine, CA native band is an alternative rock and indie rock band that I had heard of quite a while ago because of their song “My Body,” but recently, because of Spotify, I have been listening to their other, lesser known works.  I didn’t know what to expect from this band because they are not a hugely known band and I myself don’t know much about them.  But they were very good.  They really knew how to appeal to the crowd and they played really well. 

By far the most well-known artist there was Ludacris.  I am personally not a fan of Mr. Ludacris mainly because I can’t understand his lyrics and his beats make me angry, but I was convinced to go anyway.  When Ludacris took the stage the crowd let loose a deafening cheer!  Along with him there was another rapper and a DJ whose name I can’t remember.  But the crowd seemed to love them too because the kept cheering.  At any rate, the show began.  Almost as soon as the show began, numerous female fans began to crowd surf.  This turned out to be a horrible idea because no one in the crowd seemed to want to hold them up and kept dropping them on the ground!  My friends and I thought this was immensely hilarious each time.  But I digress, his music was as I expected, hard to understand and ridiculous.  But I couldn’t help but try to sing along and jump around; the energy from the crowd was astonishing!  Because people around me were jumping and dancing, I began jumping and dancing, it was absurd!  I never thought in a hundred years I would find myself having a good time at a hip hop/rap concert!

All in all, I enjoyed the Young the Giant show because it was a genre that I liked and some songs that I was familiar with.  Ludacris, on the other hand, I really enjoyed, not because of the music but because of the crowd.  The energy from the crowd was, like I said, immensely powerful!  It was an truly excellent experience and I can’t wait for next year’s festival.