Booming bass and guided meditation fueled an electric Bandersnatch concert
Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor
After an audience member threw a baby doll to Zack Fox, the comedian signed the doll and performed several songs while holding it.
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Minutes before Pi’erre Bourne took the stage at Goldstein Auditorium, students wearing white scarves and ski masks began opening up mosh pits to songs like Playboi Carti’s “Sky” and “Magnolia.” Throughout the entire night, the audience was engaged and ready for an entertaining show.
On Friday night, University Union hosted its spring semester edition of Bandersnatch, which featured Bourne, Zack Fox and DJ Jill. Bandersnatch 2022 was originally scheduled for Feb. 4 and was set to be headlined by Freddie Gibbs and Pink Siifu, but it was canceled due to bad weather.
The first performer to arrive on the stage was Syracuse University student DJ Jill. Throughout her set, DJ Jill played remixes of popular songs, including “WHATS POPPIN” by Jack Harlow and “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” by Travis Scott. The crowd became electric when she played “Still Into You” by Paramore remixed over a drill beat, which caused numerous audience members to drill dance, along with “Faneto” by Chief Keef and “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee.
In a post-show interview, DJ Jill said Bandersnatch was different for her as she usually plays for smaller events like parties. Regardless of the number of people in the audience, though, she aims to match what the crowd is feeling.
“I have to look at the people and see what they like and what they feed off of,” she said.
The next performer to hop onto stage was Fox. Before rapping his first song of the night, Fox led the crowd in a guided meditation session. After taking several deep breaths, he instructed the audience of around 300 people to repeat “God damn” and “Yeah, ho” after him.
Once he felt that the crowd was centered after the guided meditation, he performed “The Bean Kicked In,” which received an instant roar of cheers as soon as the track started.
Before resuming his set, the comedian shouted out the vintage clothing and other vendor goods students could buy in the back of the auditorium. He also shouted out Faegan’s, where he said he went before the show. Suddenly, something stood out to him: a baby doll.
“Aye throw that baby,” he said, moments before the baby — which had “sign me” written on it — was thrown to him.
After signing the baby and shouting out Kenny Beats, who has produced many of Fox’s past songs, he rapped more of his popular tracks, including “Marinate,” “Square Up” and “fafo,” while holding the doll.
Fox made it a point to engage with the audience and incorporate some comedy into his set. He frequently used a soundboard on stage, which screamed phrases like “yeah” and “white wife.”
At one point, he asked a member of the audience what their major was. The student replied with sports analytics, which caused the crowd to boo and frantically put their thumbs down.
“You trying to be Skip Bayless or something?” Fox joked.
Before wrapping up his set, Fox gave a tribute to Betty White — who he has claimed he’s a big fan of — by playing “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the theme song for “The Golden Girls.” After paying homage to TV’s golden girl, Fox transitioned into “Jesus Is the One,” which is infamous for the lyrics “R.I.P Betty White/ She ain’t dead but for when she die ‘cause I know it’s comin’ up.”
In an interview before he got on stage, Fox discussed balancing hobbies and work and wanting to collaborate with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. When asked what advice he has for students who are interested in pursuing comedy at SU and SUNY-ESF, the rapper said that students shouldn’t be afraid of failure because it’s a part of the process of getting better.
“If you’re not actively failing then people are coddling you, and that’s bad,” he said. “Just f*cking attack it, and don’t be a bitch.”
For the next 25 minutes after Fox left the stage, students hyped themselves up and danced to music in anticipation of Bourne’s performance.
Then there was silence, accompanied only by the light of a projector, which displayed animated visuals of Bourne’s singles, including “Sossboy 2” and “Groceries.”
When the Queens, New York-raised producer finally got on stage, he instructed the crowd of jittery fans to shout “Wanna come out here?” after he said “Yo Pi’erre.” After doing the call-and-response of his producer tag over 10 times, Bourne performed “Yo Pi’erre!,” which features Carti, a frequent collaborator of his.
Bourne performed more of his singles and songs from “The Life of Pi’erre 4” like “Poof” before diving into tracks from his newest project, “The Life of Pi’erre 5.” The floor quaked and vibrated as the bass boomed during “HULU” and “YNS,” causing students in the crowd to mosh and jump.
During Bourne’s set, members of the audience gradually left the auditorium or moved to the back. Despite the crowd on the floor shrinking to around 150 students, everyone gave the performer even more energy as they participated in crowd surfing and group mosh pits.
To close the night, Bourne performed “4U,” which he called his favorite song. The performance didn’t go entirely as planned, though, as someone from the crowd sneaked their way onto stage and danced next to Pi’erre before running off.
Despite the unexpected surprise, Bourne finished his set and thanked his fans for coming out.
“Y’all gotta fix your security,” the producer said. “I love y’all, though.”
Published on March 27, 2022 at 9:01 pm
Contact Siron: sthoma10@syr.edu | @sironthomas
