Tag Archives: CAB

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CAB Late Nights are Back

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Sierra Combs
Contributing Writer

I walked into the first Late Nights event of the semester, unsure of what to expect. Would it be a hazy room full of deep hipsters, spilling out their complicated hearts via poetry? Would there be snapping instead of clapping? Or perhaps it would be a cacophony of sounds, with some impromptu karaoke thrown in-between? Contrary to my imaginings, I was greeted with a warm café vibe. Students sat huddled around small round tables, with a crowd amassing along the sides of the room, enjoying USF’s talent. The ambiance was laidback, with students quietly chatting and snacking. Continue reading CAB Late Nights are Back →

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Cuckoo Cuckoo For DON-A-ROO

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On Feb. 8, the crowd at Campus Activities Board’s (CAB) annual spring concert was doing it right as they worked up a sweat and danced the night away. Swig Gym was converted into the complete dance party venue with massive green and golden lanterns, a large video screen and countlessbackdrops and lights.

DJ Devarock, the stage name of USF sophomore Royce Anies, brought the gathering to life as he pumped up the audience with his mix of popular EDM (electronic dance music) and hip-hop tracks.

“Opening for Krewella was absolutely insane,” DJ Devarock said. “I had a wonderful time opening for them. I felt a little bit nervous at first but calmed down about 20 minutes into the set.”

Watch St. Lucia perform “Elevate” at USF»

Following DJ Devarock’s set, the quintet St. Lucia hit the stage with their indie-synth pop music. The band opened with a gradual build up of guitar and drum instrumentals in the song “Night Comes Again.” To coincide with their ‘island’ sounds that extend beyond their tropical album cover art, lights illuminated the band with greens, blues, yellows and purple.

Amidst the recent rainy weather in SF, Brooklyn-based band, St. Lucia, brought tropical vibes at USF. (Photo by Danielle Maingot)
Amidst the recent rainy weather in SF, Brooklyn-based band, St. Lucia, brought tropical vibes at USF. (Photo by Danielle Maingot)

The euphoric performance featured groovy instrumentals and melodious vocals. “We Got It Wrong” took you on a rollercoaster of moods that resembled the ups and downs of a relationship, whereas “Elevate” brought high energy and made the crowd jump.

USF’s hip-hop dance club, VarCity SF, performed at the side stage while the main stage was prepared for Krewella.

“Co-founding VarCity SF my second semester at USF and helping bring the Performance Team to where it is now and performing at the CAB concert is truly amazing,” Edwin Sanchez, senior said.

After three opening acts, Krewella finally came on stage with an electric opening to the hit single “Live for the Night.”  The audience surged to life in song and movement. Sisters Jahan & Yasmine Yousaf of Krewella held quite the vantage point of the sweaty dance party, and joined in as they head-bashed to it all from the stage.  At one point, Jahan grabbed a bottle of water and poured it over her head in an attempt to cool off before resuming her bouncing.

There was no such thing as standing still in the crowd—even the floor was pulsating with the music’s rhythm and sound as the crowed moved closer and closer to the stage.

The concert ended with Krewella’s “Alive,” and the audience called for an encore. After a few minutes, students began leaving Swig Gym. To their surprise, Krewella returned to perform “Come and Get It.”  The show finally ended with the group standing on top of the rail below the stage, taking countless numbers of selfies with the audience and praising the crowd. Later that evening, they tweeted “San Francisco, man what a crowd. Thank you for making it so much to perform. Felt like Six Flags tonight XO.”

KREWELLA photo coverage by Danielle Maingot
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Are you Rooting for DON-A-ROO?

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We’re two days away from DON-A-ROO, the annual Spring concert at USF organized by the Campus Activities Board.  This year, St. Lucia will be performing in support of the electronic trio Krewella on Feb. 8.  Most of us Dons have heard great things about last year’s Macklemore performance, so is it even possible for Krewella to top it this year?

CAB’s concert director, John Hewitt, expects this year’s show to blow people away — despite the fact that Ellie Goulding was the first choice for the show, but couldn’t attend because of her European Tour.  It is no secret that electronic dance music—or EDM rather—has become increasingly popular over the past couple years. Artists like DeadMau5 and Skrillex have attracted quite a large fan base as a result of music festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival and Camp Bisco.  So, it’s no surprise that Krewella would seem like the obvious choice for a headliner. But what do the students have to say about it?

“I’m kinda over the ‘rave scene.’ I’d rather see something new and different,” Alison Collins, freshman, said.

“You know what’d be cool? If they got someone like Weird Al, or Smashmouth to play. Just this awesome, [nostalgic] band that everyone knows and loves,” Alec Kaplan, junior, said.

Perhaps the popular choice isn’t the best choice, at least according to a couple of students.  Should CAB have gone the retro route?  Granted, St. Lucia was booked as the opening act in favor of Hewitt, who describes the five-piece band as having a “tropical 80’s style.” Maybe that’s as retro and as far away from EDM as we’re gonna get for this year’s DON-A-ROO.

In addition to the annual pressure of picking a compelling headliner for the show, CAB faced an even bigger challenge, given the exponential success of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, thanks to songs like “Thrift Shop,” “Can’t Hold Us,” and “Same Love.”  The duo won four Grammys last week in the categories of Best New Artist, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Performance.

When some students were asked about their expectations for DON-A-ROO, half of them hadn’t even heard of Krewella.  Hewitt considers this fact to be in the concert’s favor.  “Krewella may not be as well known as Macklemore, but if you look back to this time last year, there were a lot of students who did not know who he was earlier, and that’s the fun in bringing up and coming talent,” Hewitt said.

Who knows what we can expect from this year’s show.  Maybe next year we’ll be bragging about how Krewella performed exclusively for USF; or maybe we’ll still be talking about Macklemore.  Either way, how many universities do you know of that hold concert quality performances on campus?  One of the great things about San Francisco is the easy access to great live music, and we get to have just that in our own school gym.

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Award-Winning Student Films at CampusMovieFest

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Danielle Maingot
Staff Writer

USF’s Campus Activities Board and Campus Movie Fest (CMF) rolled out the red carpet last Thursday, screening 16 student films. With one week to create a 5-minute film, there were 55 team submissions for CMF’s third year at USF. Students competed in Best Comedy, Best Drama, and Best Picture categories winning prizes such as Target gift cards, a year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, and having their film screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

The film “Wingman” won the award for Best Picture. The humorous flick features two friends, with one saving the other from the perils of girls. Throughout the film actor Shayan Allahi, who won Best Actor, played various roles to rescue his friend Evan Vigiano.

“Wiseman” took home the Best Drama award, along with the Silver Tripod award for Cinematography. According to the filmmakers, the movie “represents our nature to be true to ourselves. To create. To make films.To paint.To fall in love. To make art. As opposed to having to experience the normality that is having a conventional job working for the man. But instead leaving that and being true to yourself, true to creation.”The melodramatic music follows the story of a couple as they explore nature. They are shown interacting with each other through painting and filming.

Three films were nominated for Best Comedy, and “A Few Geese In The Box” took the title. Actors Jack Hampton, Alec Kaplan and David Mauro find themselves trapped in an elevator. They decide the first thing to do is establish a pee corner. After what appears to be five days, they realize that no one hit the elevator button until actor Jordan Guingao enters. Once the door closes, the elevator actually breaks down and they proceed onto day six.

Another notable film was Best Drama nominee “Preludes,” which captures the essence of T.S. Eliot’s title poem while exploring the scenery of San Francisco. When asked what inspired this film, actor Nick Butler said, “It was beyond what we normally do. We usually make funny movies, so this was a big change. Also, we based all the shots and feelings that we had off our lives. We tried to use as much real emotion as possible through the filming. We were also hugely inspired by the UK artist, Burial, and the mood that he brings across in his music.”

If you were unable to attend Campus MovieFest, you can view the films online at http://www.campusmoviefest.com/festivals/420university-of-san-francisco

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CAB Ends October with a Fright!

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Last Wednesday on Oct. 30, USF’s Campus Activities Board (CAB) held their annual Fright Night, which included the best campus haunted house I’ve seen. Fright Night has become an annual USF tradition that takes place a day or two before Halloween.

Johnny Chibnall and Makenzi Brown of the ASUSF Senate Executive Board took part in the Halloween fun dressed as a nun and cat. (Photo by Danielle Maingot)
Johnny Chibnall and Makenzi Brown of the ASUSF Senate Executive Board took part in the Halloween fun dressed as a nun and cat. (Photo by Danielle Maingot)

With a line winding around McLaren lobby, the event gained much attention from the USF community. It was initially slow to pick up, but as soon as the first batches of students went in and loved the experience, more and more started to rush into the building.

The haunted house was done professionally and student actors prepared for over two weeks to make sure their parts were as scary and convincing as possible. Strobe lights were placed to disorient students, actors in clown masks frequently jumped out at groups, and the screams of innocent victims were heard all throughout McLaren for hours. Within the tunnels were endless streamers, strings falling around you, bewildering you along the journey. Not only were the participants constantly in character, but the general design of the haunted house itself was executed excellently.

Student clown actor Sean Gresems said, “It was the best thing I’ve ever done!” He navigated his way throughout the dark ominous tunnels popping out as individuals walked by. With the orange frazzled hair, wide grin and pale white face, it was almost hard not to want to run in the opposite direction.  Attendants agreed that it was a fun and frightening way to begin Halloween weekend. Many students also attended the event in costume, contributing to the spooky theme. Overall, CAB put on a widely successful and well-attended event that is bound to be even more terrifying next year.