Gallery • 6 Photos

Andrew Duong

Waka Flocka Flame performing in front of the student audience

Outside the Jim Potter Intramural Field, a line of students eagerly waited to enter the gates of SPB’s Flocktoberfest featuring rapper Waka Flocka Flame on Saturday, Oct. 30. At the entrance table, students were prompted to show their TU ID card, their TU green health badge and were offered a mask if they didn’t already have one. Esther Esparza, assistant director for Orientation Programs and acting SPB adviser, shared the rationale behind this safety decision.

“We are abiding by our university mask policy given that there can be close proximity [in] our concert venue,” Esparza said.

Near the entrance, students had the choice to grab two free tacos from the La Consentida food truck. After, they were ushered into the stage area where troughs of iced water bottles surrounded the perimeter. Music played over the loudspeakers as students mingled in large groups, anticipating the start of the concert.

As the sun set on Trinity’s campus, Kodie Shane entered the stage as fog machines blasted, marking her first performance in a year. She immediately hyped up the healthy crowd, accepting a candle with her face on it and grabbing a cowboy hat from a student. True to her T-shirt with “Facetime” on the front, the singer sang her new single in addition to several of her other songs. At times, her crowd hyping techniques were a bit unorthodox, asking the crowd to split into two, yell at each other, and then join back together. However, as her performance progressed, her dialogue with the increasingly expanding audience became more natural.

Max Armitage, SPB Concerts chair, approved, saying “Kodie Shane was a great artist.”

After Shane said her goodbyes, Armitage took the stage and continued to feed the audience’s energy before Waka Flocka Flame came out with a bang.

Immediately, the crowd went wild, jumping up and down simultaneously, lifting up their arms at the DJ’s command.

Aidan Salazar, a first-year concertgoer, enjoyed Waka Flocka’s energy, saying his favorite part of the concert was when Waka Flocka played his 2010 hit “No Hands.”

Other hits featured at the concert were “Grove St. Party,” another one of Salazar’s favorites, and “Hard in Da Paint.”

“I had to do a lot of running around, so I didn’t get to enjoy the concert fully, but there was a moment where I was kind of standing between the partitions and the stage, and everybody was jumping at the same time and connecting with Waka’s energy … during ‘Hard in Da Paint,’” Armitage said. “It made me really happy.”

Halfway through his set, Waka Flocka brought out up-and-coming artist Rakeem Miles to sing their song, “It Is What It Is.” Miles’ energy was palpable as he danced across the stage, matching well with Waka Flocka’s huge stage presence.

After Miles’ exit, Waka Flocka briefly disappeared as the familiar DJ Snake and Lil Jon hit “Turn Down For What” intro began playing, and then as if by magic, he appeared at the back of the crowd and proceeded to join a large mosh pit in the center. Concertgoers rushed to record the moment, bombarding Waka Flocka and escalating the energy to new heights.

Initially, Armitage was apprehensive, saying of Waka’s entrance into the audience, “this could be a bit sketchy, but you know, it turned out fine. Everybody there was reasonable [and], like as far as I know, nobody got hurt.”

Overall, Armitage feels that the event was a success and that they achieved their goal of throwing a party for the campus. For all that attended, the event was a way to reintroduce Trinity students to the annual tradition of SPB-hosted concerts.