With students crowd-surfing along to "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker," rock band Of A Revolution added a much-needed fire to an otherwise wet Spring Fling.
With 2,500 tickets sold to the annual Friday night concert, the crowd filled Wynn Commons nearly to capacity, according to Social Planning and Events Committee Concerts co-Director Matt Mizrahi.
Last year, about 400 tickets were sold for the band Sonic Youth's performance, with about 250 to 300 in attendance.
Scratch Track, this year's opening band, drew a favorable but muted response from the audience.
"We are Scratch Track!" lead singer DJ Lee exclaimed. "This is your cue to cheer. No, it's too late now, we'll try again later."
The loudest applause Scratch Track elicited was during the band's rendition of Maroon 5's "Harder to Breathe," as well as when they told the crowd that OAR members were in the building behind them.
When OAR appeared, the crowd went wild and security guards moved to prevent audience members from passing the barriers.
OAR rushed onto the stage and launched immediately into their first song.
Before starting the third song, though, lead singer Marc Roberge addressed the crowd.
"This next song is about making whoopie, which I am sure most of you will be doing later on," he said.
The crowd responded enthusiastically when the band played "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker," a song they released in 2001, to close out the show.
"Everyone was jamming to the music. It made it a lot of fun having everyone dancing around you," Wharton sophomore Gavin Lazarus said. "In the opener, it wasn't so much the case."
However, some audience members who were not near the front of the crowd said they were disappointed by the concert.
"Not enough people were into it. It felt like we were just listening to background music," College freshman John O'Connor said.
Some students said they purchased tickets based on recommendations rather than personal experience.
"I don't know OAR, but some friends from high school told me about them," Wharton student Leah Perry said. Her friends "are obsessed," she said.
Lazarus, though, said that while he was not a major fan of the band, he was familiar with their biggest hits.
"I didn't know all their songs, but their big ones were fun," he said.
While security was tight throughout the concert, with guards checking bags and controlling the crowd, students found the measures taken to be reasonable.
"Security was justified," College sophomore Dennis McGinnis said.
Wharton freshman Erik Hickman agreed.
Security "was really tight, but wasn't much of a hassle," he said.
