Lil Yachty at Trinity: Spring Weekend Has Sprung

Liz Foster ’22
A&E Editor

Spring Weekend 2019 offered a variety of experiences for the average music loving Bantam. After two exhausting days of events, the Tripod reflects upon a well spent weekend in Hartford.

Friday night kicked off with Lil Yachty pulling up to the Koeppel Community Center. I kept a carefully recorded timeline of the evening, starting at 5 p.m.. The log is as follows:

5:00 Lil Yachty has posted on Instagram asking for the best pizza place in Hartford. I have DM’d him to go to Frank Pepe’s, no response.

5:30 I’m thinking about Yachty, and Yachty’s pizza. I order Frank Pepe’s.

8:40 I think I’m late to doors but my Uber and the lack of crowd makes me think otherwise. I have found Hunter Savery ’20.

8:56 I am waiting for Lil Yachty to appear eagerly. The time must be approaching soon.

9:35 Yachty has been on stage for a hot minute, but someone had decided to fight him. The person is unidentifiable from my position, but he appears to be claiming to have more talent than Yachty.

9:40  Yachty has paused the show to recognize how beautiful an audience member is. He takes the girl on stage and I want to be upset at this taking away from the concert, but it’s a genuinely wholesome moment.

10:03 Some people appear to be doubting Yachty, he decides to finish the show. I deduce he most likely will not come back to Camp Trin ever again.

Lil Yachty’s performance was subpar for a concert as a whole, but the set up and timeframe he was provided must be taken into account. Without a flashy stage production, Lil Boat looked a bit lackluster in the crowded, sweaty hockey rink. The venue was not properly equipped for a performance from a superstar like Yachty. When Yachty was speaking through the microphone I could barely understand him and not for a lack of enunciation–the speaker system was just plain inadequate.  Nonetheless, the production of the various songs still got to shine as it boomed through the rink.

Lil Yachty’s set itself was rife with enough of his popular and more niche songs to appease fans of all sorts. In between songs, faux gunshots and air horns rang out, keeping the energy high but detracting from the music. At multiple times throughout the show Yachty called for a mosh pit which was more or less successful. Sweaty students jumped on each other and shoved around as Mr. Boat yelled out the lyrics to “NBAYOUNGBOAT,” “One Night,” and “Broccoli,” among his other hits.

Saturday night at Psi Upsilon kicked off with a DJ set from Poolhaus that ranged from bad to slightly above average. The duo played mostly generic EDM without interacting much with the crowd or working to build an atmosphere. At times, the songs were good enough to carry themselves, but not enough to carry the nearly two hours of the set. When midnight rolled around, Walshy Fire of Major Lazer took the stage.

Major Lazer’s singular member commanded enough presence to make up for a lack of Diplo and Jillionaire. He encouraged the audience to jump, raise their hands, and cause a ruckus just as DJ should. Walshy’s set covered Major Lazer songs as well as his own works, even stretching into the far reaches of his comrades discography: notably playing Jack U’s reggae flared “Jungle Bae.” The speakers boomed through the tent of Psi U as Walshy Fire amped up the crowd continuously. Several classic “white people bangers” [a]snuck through the otherwise rap and EDM heavy setlist, with a-ha’s “take on me” and Oasis’ “Wonderwall” garnering the most successful responses. The set matched the caliber expected from the likes of a group as renowned as Major Lazer–and Walshy did it all by himself.

Spring Weekend 2019 sprung as a lively, music filled weekend. With notable figures from multiple ends of the industry on campus, Camp Trin lived up to its nickname with equal amounts of vigor and neon lights.