The DePaul Activity Board’s (DAB) 32nd annual FEST music festival has left students divided on whether or not they are going to attend. The event is going to be headlined by Logic and pop singer Jesse McCartney will be opening the show. FEST takes place Friday May 27 from 1-5 p.m. in the Lincoln Park Quad.
Although some students are torn on the musical acts for FEST, ticket sales are on par with FESTs past. With one week left before the event, they have already sold 1,000 tickets, compared to last year’s sold out FEST, where DAB sold 1,800 tickets.
Logic is a rapper best known for his free styling abilities and lyrics about his difficult upbringing. Attendees are generally lukewarm on Logic’s scheduled performance. Student Lauren Taylor has listened to him before, but doesn’t like him enough to justify a $10 ticket.
“Sure I think Logic is a decent rapper, but I’m definitely not going to see him at FEST.” Peyton Roberts put his feelings on the rapper rather tersely, saying he thinks “Logic just sucks.”
McCartney, on the other hand, has not been as active in the music industry. He has only released one album in the last five years, and has kept busy by appearing in many small television roles, as well as being a voice actor for films and video games.
DePaul students would likely know McCartney from his platinum studio album “Beautiful Soul” released in 2004 which featured the breakout hit song of the same name, as well as providing the soundtracks to numerous Disney Channel shows and television movies. His next release, “Right Where You Want Me”, reached gold status but was not received as well by critics, with Rolling Stone giving it two out of five stars. His last critical and commercial success, platinum single “Leavin’”, was released in 2008.
Some students like Roberts think it’s about time McCartney called it quits.
“His one good song, ‘Beautiful Soul’ is pretty outdated at this point. I think he was booked more as a nostalgia trip for people than anything else.”
For others, like Samantha Gal, a walk down memory lane is exactly the reason why they bought tickets to FEST in the first place.
“He’s just a childhood crush of mine, it’s always been a dream to see him. My roommate is going for Jesse McCartney, she’s crazy about him. She’s in a sorority and they’re all excited about it, and they have their friends that are going for him. On Twitter, all the DePaul students are tweeting about Jesse McCartney, so I definitely think there is going to be a good turn out.”
In January, students had the opportunity to vote on which musicians they wanted DAB to book for the opening and headlining acts. For the opener, possibilities included McCartney, Andrew McMahon and The Struts. Possible headliners were mainly rappers, like Mac Miller, A$AP Ferg, Juicy J and Rae Sremmurd.
“When we put the lineup together, we focus most on who students voted for, as well as crafting a lineup that will appeal to a variety of tastes, Roberts said. “McCartney got almost 50 percent of the total votes for the opening act, so he was the natural choice. The numbers were a little more spread out for the headliners, but Logic was still among the top choices.”
FESTs in the past have featured popular artists such as T-Pain, rapper Big Sean and Diplo.
DAB will be selling tickets until May 26 at the Office of Student Involvement at the Lincoln Park campus and on the 11th floor of the DePaul Center in the Loop.