It was cold, dark and misty as hundreds, then thousands, of students began to fill in around the stage at Flavet Field Friday night.
More than 5,000 students gathered for a night of chill vibes, with genre-fusing hip-hop musician Quinn XCII and electronic music duo Hippie Sabotage performing at the free concert hosted by Student Government Productions.
SGP’s decision to bring hip-hop and EDM artists to campus was a response to the UF Student Body’s interests in the genres, SGP chairman Jimmy Wheeler wrote in an email.
“After conducting a campus-wide survey this past year that saw over 1,500 students respondents, the top three genres turned out to be hip-hop/rap, rock and EDM, respectively,” Wheeler wrote. “Since Gator Growl brought [a] country artist, we decided having a hip-hop/EDM show would be a nice change of pace for students.”
The music began at 7 p.m. when brothers Kevin and Jeff Saurer of Hippie Sabotage took the stage. Kevin mixed the beats while his brother played guitar and sang.
The band performed a collection of their hits, including “Devil Eyes” and “Drifter,” as rain glistened through the stage lights. The crowd kept their hands raised in the air as they swayed and jumped to thestrokes of Jeff’s guitar and the smooth EDM rhythms.
An hour later headliner Mikael “Quinn XCII” Temrowski burst onto the stage dressed in a UF jersey and immediately began signing his single “Sad Still.”
Once finished, Quinn introduced himself to the audience and revved them up for Saturday’s football game against Missouri..
“I understand you guys are playing Missouri tomorrow, so can we get a ‘F*** Missouri?’” he said.
The crowd happily chanted in response as Quinn continued to sing more of his songs, including “Candle,” “Love Me Less,” “Flare Guns” and his newest single “Stacey.”
Samuel Orozco, an 18-year-old UF computer engineering freshman, said seeing Quinn XCII was the first time he and his friend had gone to a concert at Flavet Field.
“This was the first time we heard about [the concert], we were like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re definitely going out,’” Orozco said. “I’ve seen some of [Quinn’s] live things, and he’s really good and he puts on a cool show, so I’m just excited to see.”
As Quinn’s set drew to a close, he made it clear to the crowd where he was going next. Like many others, he was off to Midtown to end his night with a drink.
Quinn XCII shows off his UF jersey Friday night during the Fall concert at Flavet Field.
Quinn XCII, a singer and songwriter known for using a blend of different musical genres, opens his arms Friday night at Flavet Field as the headlining artist for the UF Student Government Productions Fall concert.
Brothers Kevin and Jeff Saurer perform underneath the lights at Flavet Field as the duo Hippie Sabotage, the opening act for the Fall concert Friday night.
Kevin Saurer, of the duo Hippy Sabotage, stands among the crowd Friday night at UF Student Government Production’s Quinn XCII and Hippie Sabotage concert.
