August 29, 2010

The Quad Went Wild

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“Party time.” Those two words aptly began the biggest late night dance-on-the-Arts-Quad party extravaganza, brought to Cornell by the mix masters Super Mash Bros. If you were one of the few that didn’t show up, it was Slope Day, but at night and on the Arts Quad (so no drunkenly falling down the slope).The Los Angeles based group is made up of members Nicolas Fenmore (the “classically trained musician”), Dick Fink (“the software, tech, computer geek”) and Ethan Dawes (“the digital pyrotechnician who incorporates viral content into their set”). Together, they are full time college students that are living every aspiring artists dream — working as a professional band and pumping life into every party. Their previous album, Fuck Bitches. Get Euros, has skyrocketed them from frat party DJs gigs to international concerts. Or at least “creating music that would sound like Girl Talk’s hot cousin.”The opening act was Shy Child — a two-man band from New York City made up of Pete Cafarella (vocals/keytar) and Nate Smith (drums). The group is no stranger to tours, as they were promoting their fourth studio album Liquid Love. Most people were either still arriving or talking over the group so they were easily forgettable. More importantly was that there was an adorable puppy in the crowd who I spent the opener dancing alongside.By the time Super Mash Bros. came on, the crowd was itching to dance.  The group was also psyched to show off their newest album, All About The Scrillions, to Cornell. “We’ve been touring all week and honestly, this is the show that we’ve been looking forward to the most.” It’s pretty difficult to dislike this group. As my musically-deficient friend screamed over the thumping house beats “This group is for musical A.D.D. people!” With the tracks blending into each other and changing every minute or so, if there’s a song you personally dislike, it’s over rather quickly. For example, I hate Eminiem with a fiery passion and I only had to endure his repulsive rapping for approximately one minute (which was enough for me). Most of the songs mixed seemed geared towards our generation, with songs from the 90’s to popular songs from Sweet 16’s. The transistions within each song seemed smooth enough and there were only a few instances that the crowd had to transition the sway of their hips to match the rhythm. The mix of genres within each song was also eclectic enough to please most of the crowd (Though I challenge Super Mash Bros. to fit a Radiohead or Shins song into the mix).  As the tracks blasted across the Arts Quad, the visuals displayed on screen played like a screen saver mixed with an 80’s music video. Once again catering to the 90’s generation, images such as the popular TV show Pepper Ann to the even more popular movie Space Jam made the pumped up crowd scream in nostalgic recognition.  If the crowd on the Arts Quad was looking for a nice quiet evening, they were certainly out of luck. But for the rest of us, dancing to Lil Jon’s “Get Low” over Sum 41’s “Fat Lip” was an experience that had seniors acting as excited as freshmen.  As Fink put on a Cornell Lacrosse Jersey (even though they are from out west and apparently don’t know what lacrosse is), they seemed to be angling to become Cornell’s official school DJ. And by the sound of the crowd, no one was complaining.As they played their encore and said that they could go “all night” (which apparently means 9:30) and the stars smiled brightly across Cornell, you couldn’t help but feel like we go to the greatest university in the whole world. At least we can say one thing: we know how to party.

Original Author: Allie Miller