Students packed the Quad on Sunday for Loyolapalooza, the school's annual end-of-year festival that features an afternoon filled with free food, games and entertainment, as well as some of the biggest names in music.
Armed with water bottles and dressed in shorts and flip-flops, spectators withstood the sweltering spring sun to catch headlining acts Augustana and Citizen Cope.
"Loyolapalooza is always very relaxing and fun," said senior and Student Government Association President Alex Hollis. "It's a nice way to go out with a bang before finals."
In addition to live music, the festival, which is open to both the public as well as all members of the Loyola College community, typically features various carnival-like games set up around the Quad. Throughout the day, students could be seen wrestling each other while donning bulky, padded sumo-wrestler costumes, navigating their way through a blow-up obstacle course and lining up for cotton candy and snow cones.
Other students took advantage of the airbrush tattoo and face-painting stations. Attendees could request balloon animals at another station, and a line of tables running parallel to the Humanities Building was home to a seemingly endless amount of hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and assorted beverages.
"I think it's cool that there's a lot of stuff that's free and open," said Mike Maiale, a sophomore who attends Johns Hopkins University.
The event itself is sponsored and organized by members of Loyola's SGA, who were seen darting around the event ensuring that food was replenished and the games were operating smoothly.
"All the logistical work was the biggest challenge to planning it all," said Nick DeGeorge, '11, a member of the student senate who expressed pride in how this year's Loyolapalooza turned out.
"[The] only disappointing thing was that SGA staff had to wear black shirts," continued DeGeorge, lamenting somewhat the 90-degree weather that hung around for the better part of the six-hour festival, a drastic contrast to the rainy gray weather of last year's Loyolapalooza.
Student band A Cool Stick, winners of Loyola's battle of the bands competition in March, opened up the music portion of this year's festival. Headed by rapper and front man Luke O'Brien, '09, the hip-hop quintet is rounded out by fellow Loyola seniors James Hughes, on guitar, John Fitch, who plays keyboard and raps with Luke, and Brian Aranda, on drums. Brendan "Fuzz" Floyd, a Loyola graduate and Event Services employee, plays bass in the group.
A Cool Stick kept the crowd entertained throughout their set, playing a mix of original songs and covers, including their own version of rapper Kanye West's song, "All Falls Down." High points in the set came when Hughes ditched his acoustic guitar for a microphone and began beat-boxing while O'Brien performed a freestyle rap, and when the group played O'Brien's hit, "I Love Knowledge," a parody of Asher Roth's popular rap song, "I Love College."
Students standing on the Quad swarmed the stage, bobbing their heads and swaying their arms while they joined with O'Brien in singing, "Take good notes," at the song's end.
O'Brien's version gained notoriety after a music video of the song directed by friend Gray Shannahan, '09, appeared on YouTube three weeks ago.
"That was the most fun thing I've ever done," said an excited O'Brien after the group's set. "The crowd was ballin', the weather is ballin'; this was the best show we played so far."
Augustana followed A Cool Stick with a two-man acoustic set, performed by Dan Layus, the band's vocalist, and lead guitarist Chris Sachtleben. When Augustana came on stage shortly after 3 p.m., students were squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder on the middle part of the Quad near the statue of St. Ignatius. Some students sprawled out on blankets, but many others remained standing, singing along to the songs "Boston" and "Sweet and Low," as well as their newest single, "I Still Ain't Over You."
"All the bands were great, but Augustana was an interesting change," said sophomore Liam Cronin. "The acoustic change gave everyone a good chance to just listen to music and not worry about being loud or dancing in the heat."
Most of the anticipation of the afternoon, though, was built up for Citizen Cope, who took the stage at exactly 4:30. The crowd erupted in a series of cheers and shouts as a late afternoon sun bathed the stage with a mellow glow, coincidentally quite fitting for Citizen Cope's bluesy, soulful musical style.
By this time, nearly the entire crowd was standing as Citizen Cope launched into an hour-long set that included fan favorites "Bullet and a Target" and "Let the Drummer Kick," before finishing up their set-list with the smash song, "Son's Gonna Rise."
Sophomore Class President Devin DiCristofaro could be seen atop a classmate's shoulders, clapping in unison with the throng of people that hugged the makeshift stage in front of Maryland Hall.
A dissipating crowd at the end of the day left behind a Quad strewn with water bottles, empty soda cans and the remnants of popcorn bags, but everyone seemed to be satisfied and in good spirits as they left.
"Loyolapalooza was fantastic this year," said Cronin. "A lot of people came out, and the weather really helped."
Describing the day, SGA Vice President of Policy Omani Guy summed up his feeling in one word: "Awesome."
Guy, who will be graduating with his fellow seniors May 16, capped off the thought by saying, "I'm just happy to be a part of Loyola right now."
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