First, the school sold tickets. Then, the fences went up. By the time Saturday rolled around, the anticipation was nearly palpable, and the noise of pregames boomed across the campus. It was the day of Spring Fling, arguably the highlight of the Tufts spring semester.
After an opening set by Jay Roth, the winner of Tufts' 2013 Battle of the Bands, 5 & A Dime was the first artist to perform. A DJ and producer from Philadelphia, 5 & A Dime got the (still relatively small) crowd pumped for the larger acts to come.
The crowd swelled considerably when Yeasayer finally took to the stage. The Brooklyn-based indie rockers put on a decent set, and their rendition of the gloriously psychedelic Ambling Alp" was definitely a highlight. Yeasayer, however, undermined its performance and stage presence when front man Chris Keating responded to the taunts of an audience member and offered to fight him. The rest of the band's set went smoothly, but the tension in the air never quite dissipated.
At around 3:50 p.m., Nelly stormed the Spring Fling stage, flanked by his longtime rap crew, the St. Lunatics. At 38, the St. Louis-born rapper and pop artist exuded a youthful swagger, ripping off his jacket to reveal biceps bulging out of a gray "Tufts Jumbos" tank top.
Nelly isn't necessarily the most relevant artist to headline Spring Fling for 2013. His biggest hit single, "Hot in Herre," came out over a decade ago in 2002. But he's a seasoned professional with a slew of chart-toppers at his disposal, many of which he played Saturday afternoon.
Nelly has been a rapper/pop star from the start of his career, but his newer music is even more poppy, filled with saccharine hooks that would be more at home in a Taylor Swift song than in anything resembling hip-hop. Thankfully, he started Saturday's performance by playing some of his older hits. He kicked the show off with "E.I," off his breakthrough album "Country Grammar" (2000), and continued with other "Country Grammar" favorites, including the album's single, the immortal jam, "Ride Wit Me."
"Ride Wit Me" was a particular highlight because, before the beginning of the song, Nelly told the story behind his once-signature face bandage. For nearly 10 years, the pop star bore the bandage as tribute to his St. Lunatics crewmate, City Spud, who was imprisoned in 1999 on armed robbery charges. Now that City Spud has been released, Nelly has not sported the bandage in years, though hundreds of Tufts students in the crowd rocked Band-Aids regardless.
City Spud introduced himself in his "Ride Wit Me" guest verse, and the party rolled on. The DJ kept things moving
