By Lyndsey Gilpin
After three opening acts, Nappy Roots finally made it on stage around 10 p.m. Friday night, Sept. 18.
University of Louisville students, and Louisville residents, gathered at Ulmer Stadium to watch the group perform a free concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cardinal Park.
About 350 people attended the concert. Although some sat sporadically in the softball stands, most crowded the stage to get the best view of Nappy Roots. The second song played by the group was the well known “Aw Naw,” which created an uproar immediately.
Craig Peden, a freshman sport administration major and long-time Nappy Roots fan, was chanting the chorus loudly during the entire song.
“I’m from western Kentucky, so I knew of them before,” said Peden. “But the band has been away for a while. It’s good to have them back for a show.”
Although many students came and went throughout the concert, some stayed up front, dancing until it ended around 11:30 p.m.
“You can’t get all the way up to the stage at many concerts,” said Kelsi Purdy, a sophomore exercise science major. “It’s been a lot of fun to just dance and hang out”
The concert was one of the first on campus in several years, but seems to be the beginning of a new line of activities involving music for University of Louisville students. Many agreed that more concerts would bring out more students.
“They should definitely do stuff like this more often,” said Amy Fussenegger, a junior finance major. “Students would come, then go out together afterwards. It’s just something new that would really help the school’s campus life.”
Nappy Roots played several new songs that the crowd had obviously never heard before, but got listeners into them by throwing up the L, waving their hands in the air and starting a cheer about beating the University of Kentucky in the upcoming football game. Background dancers kept up the beat, roller skating dancers took turns at the front of the stage and even children had a chance to be noticed, stepping on stage with the group during one song.
Brett Jager, the Student Government Association student athletic director, set up the entire show. He started the process last May, when the management of Nappy Roots contacted him to make a theme song for U of L. After putting the concert together, Jager found out that funding was short for the event. However, they were able to come up with the money and, in the end, Jager was very pleased with the turnout.
“It was a good day overall, for the concert and sports games,” said Jager. “I think that it proved we can certainly handle more concerts on campus.”
“I think that this is the first step to big things,” said Ernesto Castro, a junior elementary education major.
Indeed, it may be. It seems as though the student body now expects the Nappy Roots concert to be outdone, and for people to start coming out to more events.
“Nappy Roots was live,” said Andrew Becht, a freshman biology major. “U of L should throw more concerts, free or not. It was a great way to get people out.”
