BU Spring Fling Features Famous Rappers, Fried Food, and Funk
- May 5, 2017
- 4 min read
On the first Saturday of May, the Binghamton University campus becomes a carnival, complete with bouncy castles, fried Oreos, and perhaps the most highly anticipated concert event of the year. Spring Fling is an annual BU tradition that brings big acts to campus for a free concert event open to both students and the general public. This year’s concert is headlined by rap artists Mac Miller and Ty Dolla $ign, with alternative student band POOL opening the show.
Tyrone William Griffin Jr., known professionally as Ty Dolla $ign, is best known for his synthesizer-driven hits “Paranoid” and “Blasé,” which combine elements of R&B and hip hop. The rapper is performing a one-hour set before Mac Miller.
Miller, real name Malcolm James McCormick, rose to fame in 2010 at age 18 with the release of his fourth mixtape, K.I.D.S. The Pittsburgh native’s most popular songs include the retrospectively relevant “Donald Trump,” dubbed by Rolling Stone as an “irresistible bro-down.” The 2011 frat anthem has garnered over 127 million views on YouTube, a video that features Miller bopping around a college party in search of a “big butt bitch” to get “on his Donald Trump shit.” The song is almost as egomaniacal and ostentatious as the person it’s named for, but might be bearable with the help of a few chemical substances.
Granted, Miller’s sound has matured over the years - and he’s distanced himself from Donald Trump after the latter threatened to sue him over Twitter. Miller’s 2016 album The Divine Feminine explores the vastness and complexities of love, intimacy, and the universe, with vocal contributions from Cee-Lo Green, Kendrick Lamar, Ty Dolla $ign, and Miller’s current romantic partner, Ariana Grande. The resulting sound is much more mellow, dreamlike, and listenable, accented by Miller’s punchy rapping. Given Miller’s recent performance at the festival-turned-fashion-show Coachella, the Spring Fling set promises to be loud and rowdy. CLOCKWORKDJ, Miller’s official live producer, is performing a solo set before joining Miller on stage for the headlining show.
Opening for the big rap acts is POOL, a funky alternative band comprised of Binghamton University students Eric Sabshon, Robert Castriota, Sage Gibbons, and Joe Gallo. Guitarists Gallo and Sabshon met in 2015 at BU’s student orientation and have been making music together ever since, gradually culminating a full band. Their first band, The Three 4s, won last year’s Battle of the Bands competition, opening for Walk the Moon and T-Pain at the 2016 Spring Fling concert. After their lead singer Allie Young left to study abroad, the band had some major restructuring to do.
“We really never had a set lineup of musicians before now,” says Sabshon. “Our last bassist, Scott, was Orthodox Jewish and couldn’t play on Shabbat, which was Friday into Saturday night. So he really couldn’t play the majority of our shows, including the first Spring Fling. Rob came in and had to learn all of our songs in a week.”
“And our previous drummer Pete was a graduate student, so eventually he got engaged with his teaching and couldn’t stay with the band,” Castriota recalls.
In January 2017, the band picked up drummer and vocalist Gibbons, who has roots in jazz and blues. The result is a funkier, dancier sound, structured by Gallo and Gibbons, accented with technical prowess of bassist Castriota and lead-guitarist Sabshon. The band was rechristened POOL, a tag name borrowed from Gallo’s roommate, who is a street artist. For the band, the new dynamic is powerful.
“It was a learning experience these past few semesters, figuring out how to write music and run a band at the same time; plus all the member turnover made things a little harder,” reveals Gallo. “But this semester something just clicked. Sage and I have been saying that we’re writing the best music we’ve ever written in our lives right now.”
With nine original songs, four committed members, and lots of practice time under their belts, POOL is looking forward to delivering a tight, energetic, and unique performance at Spring Fling. The band is hoping to offer some funky alternative variety for people who aren’t as interested in the main acts. Compared to previous years, when headliners have typically fallen within the alternative genre (albeit on the poppy side), this year’s are exclusively rappers.
“Ty Dolla $ign and Mac Miller aren’t artists in our genre, but the good thing about it is that we’ll be the band for people who are looking for a live alternative band,” says Sabshon. “I hope that, for people who might not prefer the main acts, they still come out and enjoy our music. Our set might be their favorite set of the night.”
The weekend before our interview, the band spontaneously played a house show on Chestnut Street. The response from the crowd, according to Gallo, was amazing.
“We were playing in the living room of this house, and there were about seventy people there, and all of them were totally tuned in. People were dancing like crazy - you could really tell people were into it. That’s the best part about making music, I think, is seeing people physically enjoying what you spent so much time and effort creating. I hope Spring Fling will be just like that, on a bigger scale.”
Binghamton University’s Spring Fling will take place on Saturday, May 6th. The all-day festival includes free rides and concession stands. The Spring Fling Main Stage will be located in front of the Student Wing on the Binghamton University campus. Doors open at 6:30pm. POOL is set to open the show at 7:30pm. The concert is free and open to the public.
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