About 3,000 people gathered on Flavet Field on Saturday evening for Student Government Productions’ first Swampfest.
Mac Miller, Rooney, Tokyo Police Club and RAC performed despite heavy rain.
SGP paid Mac Miller $45,000; Tokyo Police Club $35,000; Rooney $17,500; and RAC $10,000.
Jeff Schnier, chairman of SGP, said VISA and Reitz Union Board Entertainment also helped plan the festival.
“These bands are really chill,” the 22-year-old accounting senior said. “They were chosen for that reason.”
The last major concert held at Flavet was a 2010 Slightly Stoopid show, but it was cut short after the crowd grew aggressive.
Student Government spent $35,000 on safety improvements to the band shell after that.
Police weren’t worried about Swampfest.
“Number one, this is a totally different genre,” said UPD Lt. William Gainey, who said he expected a laid-back crowd.
Thunder caused the show to be postponed at about 4:45 p.m., about the same time UF students Taylor Lilley, 18, and Brittany Yates, 19, arrived.
“I think we saw about six people,” said Lilley, a natural resource conservation freshman.
UPD gave the go-ahead at about 5:30 p.m. A group of about 50 gathered, some huddled under umbrellas while others stood soaking in the rain. The weather cleared by about 7:30 p.m.
The crowd had reached about 2,500 people when Mac Miller took the stage at about 9 p.m.
Miller met briefly with Brian Autieri, 20, and another UF student after the show. Both won a meet-and-greet through SGP’s Facebook page.
Autieri’s birthday was the day before the concert, and he said this was one of the best presents he’s ever gotten.
“I was so stoked,” the philosophy sophomore said.
Contact Shelby Webb at swebb@alligator.org.
Mac Miller performs at Swampfest on Saturday night on Flavet Field.
