When it rains, it pours

The concert to wrap up the Concordia Student Union’s two-week long Orientation ended early due to thunderstorms Friday evening, Sept. 14.

The concert for accessible education featured BadBadNotGood, KRNFX and Azari and Ill in the Loyola Quad. The CSU sold bracelets for a dollar donation to contribute to the bursaries.

Azari and Ill never took the stage because of a windy, torrential downpour that forced undergraduate students to take cover underneath the tents that sold food and beer around 9 p.m. The CSU decided to end the concert early and told students to go to The Hive or board the shuttle busses waiting outside the Quad.

CSU President Schubert Laforest confirmed that approximately 810 students came to the concert, which is significantly smaller than previous concerts organized by the CSU. In 2011, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 students gathered for the free show featuring Stars and Mother Mother. In 2010, more than 2,500 students showed up to see K’naan perform at the Quad despite the rain.

“Our main concern was the weather,” said Laforest.

Nicolas Abou, a Concordia undergraduate student at the John Molson School of Business, felt the music was good but the closing event could have offered more.

“I like that it’s outdoors and that the music is not bad,” said Abou, “but I expected to get more.”
“Overall though, it was cool,” added Abou.

Riikka Aspergen, an international student from Finland, attended the concert but left when it started to rain. Aspergen expected a larger crowd but thought the reason for the small turnout was due to the weather or the musical artists headlining the event.

“I thought there would be more people,” said Aspergen. “I don’t know if it was because of the rain or the bands.”

“The atmosphere was okay at first but the rain pretty much ruined the evening,” explained Aspergen.

CSU VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon, who sold tickets for food and refreshments, was pleased with the number of undergraduates that came to the Loyola Campus on a Friday night. Lauzon echoed Laforest’s sentiments, looking on the bright side, despite the rain.

“I had low expectations,” said Lauzon. “So I’m happy with how this turned out.”

Related Posts