In language too colorful to be written verbatim, Vince Staples did what most people new to the Salt City would do: talk Syracuse basketball. After his hype man said “shoutout Hakim Warrick,” Staples argued that Carmelo Anthony was the true hero at this school. And after asking the crowd, it was clear that Staples was right.

This exchange between hype man, rapper and crowd was not uncommon during Staple’s headline set at Mayfest on Friday. The Long Beach, California, native told the crowd they were too grown to have an inflatable slide. He asked if Syracuse had a lacrosse team, and then answered his own question based on the fact that there were so many in the crowd with sunglasses on despite the gloomy weather. He said white people are crazy for wearing shorts when it’s cold outside.

Staples rapped a little, too. He encouraged the crowd to bounce with him, and they did. His songs “Norf Norf” and “Blue Suede,” which have over 10 million and five million plays on Spotify, respectively, induced some borderline-violent moshing near the barrier. The people seemed to have gotten what they waited for.

Frankie Prijatel | Senior Staff Photographer

When his set was over, he told the crowds to not do drugs, but added, “we got some weed in the back.” In short, Staples made jokes.

Louis The Child, a rising EDM duo from Chicago, warmed up Staple’s audience. Except today, the duo was just one man. Freddy Kennett was alone behind the rig, as the press was told Robby Hauldren is taking his final exams at the University of Southern California. Their manager didn’t allow any further questions on the matter.

Flying solo did no detriment to Louis The Child’s entertainment value. Kennett, outfitted in a Syracuse Crunch jersey, started with a remix of Zella Day’s “Compass,” which Kennett said is almost always their first song because of its reverb. However, he peak of the set was during Louis The Child’s take on “Blasé” by Ty Dolla $ign. Kennett said it’s a song that he was hesitant to remix, but has become one that crowds consistently love.

Puffs of smoke frequently rose from a crowd growing in size and intensity. At one point, I journeyed into the thick of things, only to leave when things got so intense a fight nearly broke out.

Frankie Prijatel | Senior Staff Photographer

The audience fed off the sounds of Kennett’s knob twisting and button pushing, and he seemed to feed off the audience. He would bob about, often shooting towards the sky when a beat dropped, which appeared to be his signature move.

That move is something one would assume Indio, California, knows well — Louis The Child played a Coachella set just two weeks ago. But Kennett said that it’s smaller shows like today’s that are more stressful than a big festival appearance.

“At Coachella, there’s just too many opinions to care about,” Kennett said. “But here it’s more intimate.”

It’s that feeling of intimacy that might perfectly describe PUBLIC’s performance to start the day. Their set began at 2:15 p.m., so a good portion of those who attend Mayfest were still at their pregame festivities. Lead singer John Vaughn shared the story behind “My Love,” a time when he tried to talk to a cute girl but couldn’t get out any words. At one point, drummer Ben Lapps tried to converse with a member of the crowd mid-song, but unsurprisingly couldn’t make out what he was trying to say.

Frankie Prijatel | Senior Staff Photographer

Unsigned to a label, Public has opened for fellow Ohio bands Walk The Moon and Twenty One Pilots. The guys laughed about the fact that most of the time when they play, they’re the “babies,” as Lapps said, trying to win over the fans of whoever they are opening for. But bassist Matt Alvarado said it’s this smaller status that makes it easier to relate to crowds.

“I think the big positive for being an unsigned band is that it allows us to connect with our fan base that much more, because we don’t take ourselves super seriously,” said Alvarado. “We’re just goofs.”

It was easy to see that kind of attitude on the faces PUBLIC as they played. They seemed to be having a blast, and so did most of the crowd. It could have been a multitude of reasons — the corndogs, the silent disco, or the alcohol — but I like to think music was the reason not even rain could dampen the spirit of Walnut Park today.

Published on April 29, 2016 at 10:37 pm

Contact: jtbloss@syr.edu | @jtbloss