Racing against the clock, I sprinted through the freezing cold parking lot. The wind nipped at my nose. I check my phone. 7:10. The concert started at 7. I picked up my pace, my lungs starting to burn. By the time I passed through security it was 7:15. I could hear “Hurricane” by Ms Mr playing through the loudspeakers. When finally seated Ms Mr was saying goodnight.

Although I missed three songs, “Hurricane” sounded amazing. After the green-haired beauty Lizzy Plapinger left the stage. I sat in my chair and took in the view. It wasn’t too crowded but enough to look like a full house. General Admission was packed. Radio 94.7 had a good turnout. Finally when the crew set up The Features equipment, the band from Nashville made an appearance singing popular songs “This Disorder” and “How It Starts.”. Their voices sounded exactly how they did on the radio. They were truly magnificent.

Once they left the stage, the equipment crew started to strip down and put up the next bands equipment. After a timely 20 minutes, Capital Cities bounced onto the stage. Immediately the energy in the arena picked up. From having a trumpet player to having a computer to play electronic music, Capital Cities had everything. They sang a couple songs one of them including “Safe and Sound.” After managing to get everyone on their feet, they sadly had to depart. Leading to another long wait.

However it was worth it because a surprise appearance from Joan Jett occurred. Instantly the crowd went wild. The true rocker sang her smash hit “I Love Rock & Roll” which had the crowd screaming the lyrics. It was truly exhilarating. After she sang a couple more songs she left, leading to another long wait. It was irritating how long it took for them to switch the stages. Each set took over 20 minutes.

Grouplove then took the stage. Christian Zucconi was headbanging with his green hair as the rest of his band jumped around the stage. They definitely performed amazingly, their presence radiated through the room getting everyone to dance. They sang the popular songs  “Tongue Tied” and “Colours.” They put on quite a show.

Alt-J then took the stage, playing much more mellow songs like “Breezeblocks.” Although they played very well. It took so long for the crew to set up the stage by the time Alt-J started it was already past 10:30 making the whole crowd very tired. Some people even were falling asleep. When they finally finished multiple people had left and one more band was still to play.

Cage the Elephant finally hit the stage after yet another grueling 20 minutes. People who weren’t slightly buzzed from alcohol were getting quite angry and tired at the annoying wait. But Cage the Elephant made the wait worth the while singing “Ain’t no rest for the Wicked”, “Spiderhead”, and “Back against the Wall”;they blew the audience away. Not to mention they sang way more songs than intended. Matthew Shultz apologized to all us “lovely” people for being late. Soon after a couple more songs the arena had cleared out making the general admission much smaller. However the band did not let it affect them and only praised the crowd for staying. Shultz stage dived and even did a headstand on the crowd’s hands.

It was a rowdy experience. If Radio 94.7 decides to put on another show next year they need to work on their time restraints seeing that the concert ended at past midnight. Although I give props to them for picking some spectacular bands.

by SAVANNAH HOUDEK