By Jamie Alcaparras

Code Red and Q Official, rocked the Red Barn at the University of Louisville with their hip-hop music on Saturday night, despite an undersized crowd.

The Student Activities Board had spent three months planning and preparing the concert, but only about 50 people showed in the Red Barn during the event. That number included the 20 SAB student workers and the bands’ crew and followers.

The event was scheduled for 8 p.m., but the artists waited for an additional 45 minutes to see if more students would arrive. At 8:45 p.m., the concert began with a small crowd standing in the center of the floor of the Red Barn.

“It was not very encouraging,” said Alex Hunnicutt, SAB executive chair of the variety committee. “I’m hoping it was the Fourth Street event,” said Hunnicutt, who organized much of the event.

Hunnicutt believed that fans turned to the Orange Bowl celebration happening on Fourth St. instead.

He added that some students who had bought tickets in advance did not show up and he felt let down by the student body.

But Hunnicutt said the poor turnout did not stop the artists from doing a phenomenal job. Singers from Q Official moved through the crowd as they led the opening show.

“You would have thought that they were playing to a packed house. It was a really good show,” said Hunnicutt, a sophomore marketing major.

Code Red member Junior Dred said the band offered to play at the event for free and that members of the group are fans of U of L. “They’ve been helping us out, you know, as far as getting the name out, and getting us familiarized with people who haven’t really heard of Code Red,” said Dred.

“I felt their music was original. I spoke to one of the singers and found them to be quite pleasant. They really enjoy what they do,” said Tejas Shastry, a freshman political science major.

According to Dred, Code Red has played all over Louisville, including Headliners and Freedom Hall.

“As far as here in Louisville, we’ve played every venue there is to play,” said Dred.

Their biggest hit has been “Summer Jam,” which peaked at number 65 on the Billboard charts.

Code Red even made a spirited theme song for U of L, which has led them to bigger possibilities. “We’ve signed with ESPN to write three theme songs for the NCAA basketball team from November to March,” Dred said. “We’re doing a lot of major things.”

And despite a discouraging turnout at last week’s SAB concert, this will not be the last time Code Red and SAB members team up.

In June, Code Red will be performing at the 2007 National Association of Collegiate Activities conference in Nashville. Six members of the U of L SAB will be attending that event.

“When you are on the stage on NACA, you will get a lot of buzz,” said Hunnicutt.