Students began scanning the campus for letters at 10 a.m. yesterday, hoping to discover the first of three Spring Fling concert artists.
By 1 p.m., it was confirmed that Kid Cudi — the singer of “Day ‘n’ Night” — will be the opening performer at Fling, as students spotted all seven letters spray-painted on large white banners in locations across campus.
“As an avid Cudi fan, I am elated to find out that he’s coming to Fling,” College junior Danny Monckton said. “I was pretty disappointed with the last two years, so I’m glad SPEC stepped it up.”
College senior Laura Trujillo added, “I think he’ll be a good performer, especially as an opener — he’ll do a great job of pumping up the crowd, which is important for these kinds of concerts.”
Despite enthusiasm from some, other students were disappointed because of Kid Cudi’s limited musical repertoire.
“To be honest, I don’t even know who Kid Cudi is,” College and Wharton freshman Ben Martinez said.
“First I thought it was Kid Rock, but now that I know it’s Kid Cudi ... Well, that’s okay I guess,” College sophomore John O’Malley said.
The Social Planning and Events Concerts Committee introduced the unprecedented scavenger hunt reveal this year.
“We decided we wanted to do something more creative, unique, to get the word out there better,” College sophomore and SPEC Concerts Co-Director Jordan Sale said.
The first student who sent in each letter to 34th Street Magazine’s blog, Under the Button, received a wristband to enter the floor level at Fling for free.
Many were excited about guessing who the performer would be.
“A lot of people sent in pictures of the banners as they came up,” said College junior and Under the Button Managing Editor Hillary Reinsberg.
“About half way through, most people figured out who the artist was, but our web traffic for the day remained very high,” she said.
Reinsberg said today set the record for Under the Button’s most hits ever — over 26,000 page views.
College sophomore Charlotte Crowley and two of her sorority sisters were thrilled to spot the last letter — “U” — as they walked out of the Chi Omega house this morning.
“The scavenger hunt definitely hyped up the process because people were talking and guessing for the entire first two hours,” College freshman Greg Reiner said.
However, some students wanted to find out through a single announcement rather than a scavenger hunt.
“I would prefer just waiting til a specific day and know the entire name at once,” Engineering sophomore Kathleen Llontop said.
Though the artist was rumored to be “obvious” after the first three letters were revealed, there was speculation that other artists, like Kid Rock, were possible performers.
Students were excited about Kid Cudi, but mostly they looked forward to learning who the other artists will be.
“I’m sure the final line up will be ridiculous,” College freshman Talia Goldberg said.
Past Fling performers have included Akon, Guster, Ludacris, Gym Class Heroes, OK Go, Ben Folds and Third Eye Blind.
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