While doors were originally scheduled to open at 6 p.m., the end-of-the-year concert was ultimately pushed back due to the rain. By 6:30 p.m., the gates were finally let in and students rushed to the front to stand in the rain, waiting for everyone’s favorite heartthrob Jesse McCartney. Many students, including senior Katie Silva, said this was a huge throwback for her.

“Lowkey, my eighth-grade self is here for Jesse McCartney,” Silva said. ‘Leavin’ and ‘Body Language’ are my favorite. I used to sing them like it was nothing.”

However, there was certainly a pack of fans who were just there for Logic and said similar things to senior Josue Ortiz about McCartney.

“I’m here for Logic,” Ortiz said. “My favorite Jesse McCartney song would be the ‘I’m leaving’, never coming back again’, you know that one song. That one as well as the other one, you know the “Beautiful Soul, Beautiful Soul.’”

Nevertheless, the crowd went crazy as McCartney came out to screams of “Jesse, I love you”.

Feeling the crowd’s energy, he jumped right into fan favorite, “Leavin’”, and had the audience singing along to the chorus in no time. McCartney swiftly moved from that right into “How Do You Sleep,” at one point stepping out onto the speakers in front of the stage, eliciting screams out of many of the fans in the front row.

McCartney, no doubt a seasoned veteran at using his notable songs to his advantage, did lose the crowd a bit when playing his newer tracks, “Back Together” and “Young Love,” from his latest album “In Technicolor,” which was released in 2014.

“You could tell he was still trying to lose his old image as a childhood popstar from the 90s,” junior Mel Sanchez said. “The crowd knows him just for his old hits so I don’t know why he wouldn’t’ just stick with those.”

A er realizing the crowd’s energy was dipping, McCarthy slipped right back into form as he had an acoustic version of “Just So You Know” and “She’s No You.”

Most of the fans continued to surprise, singing along with

many of the songs, going back to their middle school days. McCartney then started singing “ e Stupid ings,” which almost no one knew, but that got thrown aside for excitement when McCartney began to search the crowd for someone to bring on stage. He eventually found one lucky lady named Olivia, who sat on stage as McCartney serenaded her.

“It made my entire life. I’ve literally been in love with him sense the third grade. I told him that when I was up there,” Olivia said. “He said ‘thank you so much Olivia’ and gave me lots of hugs. And, oh my God, when he touched my thigh I freaked out, I thought he was going to sing ‘Beautiful Soul.’”

After finishing his set with the high pace “Body Language,” McCartney ended by saying thanks and walking o stage. e crowd was having none of it though as he ran back on stage to chants of “Beautiful Soul! Beautiful Soul.” McCartney then performed the song many came solely for, only needing to sing the verses since the audience belted out the chorus lines.

After his performance, there was almost a changing of the guards as many McCartney fans left and Logic fans streamed in. Logic had the crowd in high energy for most of the night, garnering fist pumps throughout almost the entirety of his set. Logic brought on a myriad of guest artists to perform with him to the delight of many.

The 27-year-old rapper had DePaul students in a frenzy as he consistently kept the energy up in the crowd, surpassing many expectations that this year’s FEST would fail to live up to the past concerts.

A er performing the majority of his newest album “Everybody,” the concert had to come to an end as the rapper wrapped FEST up at around 9:20, right after finishing a rap battle with one of the fans in the front row. While overall the energy was high throughout the night, DePaul students Ortiz and Silva concluded it was not their favorite.

“This is my third FEST, I didn’t go last year,” Silva said. “Honestly, lowkey, nothing compares to Big Sean. Big Sean was lit, I remember that like it was yesterday.”

“This is my fourth fest, I’ve been every year,” Ortiz said. “Big Sean was decent, but I loved Childish Gambino.”