On Friday, Spring Break came a bit early this year for students who bought Giraffage tickets.
The artist stopped by Sonoma State University as part of his North American tour that kicked off in January.
Near the entrance of the highly anticipated concert, dozens of students were asking others if they had spare tickets, in hopes that they would get this treasured opportunity.
“It wasn’t what I expected,” said freshman Rheannon Eisworth. “Although it was kind of like a high school dance, it was pretty fun.”
The event was held in Ballroom B of the Student Center, which served as an odd setting for such a party-like concert. The ballroom consisted of a small stage that was completely surrounded by about 300 dancing students, which left the rest of the ballroom fairly empty.
Giraffage, whose actual name is Charlie Yin, is originally from the Bay Area and has collaborated with musical artists such as Flume, Pretty Lights and XXYYXX.
Giraffage attracted more of a rave-type of crowd, all of whom let their “crazy” out by dancing into the night.
“I love the atmosphere in here. When else do you get the chance to dance like this?” Giraffage is great,” said Jeremy Hern, a junior at Santa Rosa Junior College.
The artist of the night is known for his electronic remixes of songs, as he adds dream-like sound effects that has led to many dubbing his genre as “dream pop.” Giraffage makes electronica his own by infusing a unique happy spin into it, making it very popular among college students.
Giraffage didn’t perform until later in the evening, which was disappointing to many, but the opening disc jockeys kept the crowd on their feet jumping and dancing until about midnight.
As students partied on, it became apparent that this was not one’s typical high school dance; physical boundaries ceased to exist in the ballroom after 11 p.m. If one dared to enter the huge crowd of rambunctious dancing college students, it became difficult to navigate one’s way out.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Yin said “I’m more of a homebody, definitely. I don’t really like going to clubs that much,” a statement that is completely ironic considering that he turned Ballroom B into a club for three hours Friday night.
Much of the crowd was stuck in a hot sweaty mess, but it looked like the perfect way to de-stress after a week of classes. “This is just what I needed,” said freshman Kara Sanchez. “I’m so happy that my friends dragged me out of the house tonight.”
The audience made it clear when a song of his was popular. For instance, when Giraffage’s song “Tell Me” came on through the blasting speakers, screams of excitement filled the entire ballroom, which pumped up the audience even more, making for a positive, good-vibe atmosphere all night.
Associated Students Productions hit a home run with this event, as the artist was relevant to the college generation and brought some much appreciated excitement to campus. The fact that the tickets were free to all Sonoma State students only made it favorable.
Although most of the students hadn’t even heard of Giraffage until he came to Sonoma State, some brought homemade signs in support of Yin.
This just proves that the up-and-coming artist does in fact have a fan base, which will continue to grow if he keeps on visiting college campuses like Sonoma State.
