Gym Class Heroes Concert Review
The Mullins Center was alive with the sounds of hundreds of screaming college students last night at the Gym Class Heroes concert. The band, a four-piece hip-hop/rock group from New York, blew the crowd away with their energetic and controversial performance. A performance packed with sexual overtones and among other things, multiple braziers thrown on stage by a pack of overexcited girls in the audience.
As kids filed into the Mullins and gathered around the stage, the music of DJ Abilities, one of the informal openers for Gym Class Heroes, filled the air. He spun some rap/hip-hop beats for the crowd's listening enjoyment while they waited, which proved very successful as the floor in front of the stage was turned into an impromptu night club.
After departing, DJ Abilities was soon followed by the opening act, The Pack, who emerged onto the stage complete with sunglasses and chains around their necks. Their set was entertaining, full of audience participation and attempted sing-alongs. Although their song lyrics were somewhat repetitive, they really got the anxious crowd pumped-up and ready for the band everyone was waiting for.
Directly after the Pack finished playing, yet another band called Tyga stormed rather unexpectedly onto the stage, shouting random, inaudible greetings into their microphones. Their set was similar to that of the previous act, except with two less members and no sunglasses.
Travis McCoy, lead singer of Gym Class Heroes, later explained that one of the members of Tyga was his younger cousin, which might explain why they were the band to play directly before the headliners.
Gym Class Heroes' set was nothing short of astounding. They charged onto the stage with flags waving, to boisterous screams of excitement. The band dove right into their first song, "New Friend Request" which drew an energetic and surprisingly involved response from the audience. The screams grew even louder when Travis incorporated "UMass" into a couple of the songs.
It was evident from anyone standing in the area in front of the stage, or in the seats surrounding it, that this band knows how to put on an entertaining live show. Not only did Travis integrate the crowd into his between-song-banter as much as possible, but he even singled people out to make a point, in a way of introducing some of the band's songs.
Before beginning the insanely popular and catchy "Cupid's Chokehold," McCoy pointed out a girl in the crowd and asked if she had a boyfriend. When the girl responded negatively, the singer proceeded to say "well you will after this song!" It was comments such as those that made this band's live performance so enjoyable to watch. It was also very clear that everybody in that arena agreed because the dancing never stopped, along with the ceaseless energy of the band.
Gym Class even kept it interesting by signing their version of a Beach Boys song, "Good Vibrations" off their 1966 album "Smiley Smile." Before beginning the song, Travis explained that "this is not your conventional cover song," which was made obvious by the fresh, hip/hop style take they put on it. It was surprisingly well done and even had some kids singing along, which was even more shocking.
Another crowd favorite seemed to be "The Queen and I" which is the first track off of the bands sophomore album, "As Cruel as School Children." The floor turned into a dance party during this song. There was not an idle body in the whole place, as the energy poured out of the crowd and band alike.
The facial expressions of the band during their set were enough to run that show alone. The drummer, bassist and guitarist kept smiles permanently plastered on their faces from beginning to end, while Travis stuck out his tongue, winked, and scrunched up his face more times than anyone could count.
At the end of Gym Class Heroes' last song, as McCoy was closing out the set and making his finishing remarks, multiple bras got thrown on stage directly in front of the dumbfounded vocalist. He stopped mid-sentence, flashed a broad smile to the screaming girls who were obviously the owners of the undergarments, and proceeded to finish out the set with the bras draped around his shoulders as the band departed from the stage.
After the band made the audience squirm for all of 30 seconds for an encore, the boys came striding back onto the stage for one last song, their most popular to date, "Clothes Off!"
From beginning to end, the concert was beyond entertaining and an overall success for all of the bands on the lineup. Gym Class Heroes really pulled through, and lived up to their high standards of an outstanding, energetic live performance full of sexual innuendo and unexpected surprises.
By Michelle Abbasciano, Collegian Correspondent
