Saturday marked Fordham’s annual Spring Weekend concert, the pinnacle of the weekend’s festivities. This year’s lineup included student funk rock band Free Advertising, indie-pop group Prinze George and a high energy performance from pop duo Timeflies.
With warm temperatures and the sun shining on Rose Hill, students flocked to Martyr’s Lawn early in the afternoon to enjoy the live music and food trucks sponsored by Campus Activities Board (CAB).
Fordham’s own Battle of the Bands winner Free Advertising, who won the spot to open for the performer at the competition, took to the stage first. Band members PJ Cruz, FCRH ’18, Brian Reynolds FCRH ’17 and Gus Arndt, FCRH ’17 spoke to The Fordham Ram earlier this month to express their creative process and excitement for the Spring Weekend performance slot.
The three-piece balanced Free Advertising originals “Blowin’ Down Berklee Jam,” “Bedroom Blues” and “Boat Race” with covers of Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Rage Against the Machine in their 20-minute set.
“Blues” and “Boat Race” with covers of Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Rage Against the Machine in their 20-minute set.
“The Spring Weekend was probably the hottest show we’ve ever played,” said PJ Cruz.
“The sun was cooking us up on stage and there was nothing to quell the endless sweat in our eyes, but playing Spring Weekend has been a goal of ours for a while, so it was awesome to finally get up there and put on a show.”
Next on the stage was Prinze George, a indie pop trio from Prince George County, MD now based in Brooklyn. The trio played several synthpop songs for the crowd of students sprawled across the lawn.
The group, led by blue-haired singer Naomi Alquist, performed songs from their debut LP, Illiterate Synth Pop, released last year, alongside Kenny Grimm’s production and Isabelle De Leon’s drumming. The trio’s set included “Victor” and “Upswing,” two songs bringing in over two million streams on Spotify.
The main event, Timeflies, then heralded the attention of the crowd. Announced as the main Spring Weekend performer by CAB just five days before the concert, the pick received mixed reactions from students. Timeflies worked to prove themselves as a viable choice for the concert performer with an energetic set which featured original music, covers of pop classics and a Fordham-inspired freestyle rap.
The group, composed of vocalist Cal Shapiro and Rob Resnick, who provides original beats, put on an entertaining performance for the Fordham crowd. Interspersed between Timeflies’ original songs were an eclectic mash-up of covers including “Under the Sea,” the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song, Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA,” DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” and WALK THE MOON’s “Shut Up and Dance.”
The duo, known for covering a wide variety of songs as well as freestyling for “Timeflies Tuesdays” on their YouTube channel, decided to test impromptu chops on a Saturday. Shapiro’s freestyle rap, which name-dropped several Fordham hotspots such as Eddie’s, the D-Train and Ram Van, famous alum Denzel Washington and former student Lana Del Rey, pizza staple Pugsley’s, not wanting to have class in FMH and two infamous faces on Arthur Ave, Simon and Suits, quickly became the shining point of the performance. Each mention resulted in an immediate, wild reaction from the students as Shapiro rattled off a rap while holding a piece of paper with Fordham terminology.
The duo closed the set with “Once in Awhile,” their most popular song to date with more than 246,000,000 streams on Spotify, which CAB used in their performance announcement video last week. Shapiro led the high-spirited crowd in singing the chorus of the 2016 jam, “I just want to dance/I feel good.”
Due to chants for an encore, Timeflies reappeared to perform their 2013 hit “I Choose U.” Members of CAB soon took to the stage to throw beach balls into the crowd, allowing students to relish in the atmosphere for one final song.
“This year’s Spring Weekend Concert exceeded the Concert Committee’s expectations,” said Mary Munshower, Concert Committee co-chair. “The concert’s opener, Prinze George, really drew in the crowd, and Timeflies was a huge hit. The students particularly seemed to love the covers and freestyles that the duo did, especially those that incorporated references to Fordham life. The crowd roared every time Caleb, Timeflies’ lead singer, mentioned sitting on Eddie’s or grabbing a late night bite from Pugsley’s. This was my first year co-chairing the Concert Committee, and I am really looking forward to the opportunity to do it all again next year.”
