Xavier Edward

Special to the Chronicle

Hofstra Concerts and Entertainment Unlimited hosted the 8th annual Music Fest, an event students look forward to before the stress of finals.

This year, gracing the stage were Megan and Liz, a country-pop girl duo, Phony PPL, a band that describes their sound as “that new genre,” X Ambassadors, an alternative rock group, and the headliner, T-Pain.

The excitement was high, the energy was contagious, the breeze was just right and the anticipation was electrifying. Students gathered on the intramural field to take part in this amazing outdoor concert. As the acts left the stage, one by one, more and more students gathered to hear T-Pain.

Students, including myself, screamed as it was many of our first time seeing T-Pain in concert.

The concert quickly turned into a “Throwback Thursday” event as he performed all his old jams – songs such as “Church,” “Buy You a Drank,” “I’m in Love with a Stripper,” and many more as the crowd sang and danced along.  He even sang some of his new hits such as “Red Cup.”

T-Pain also did a remix set where he remixed Lorde’s “Royals,” putting his own twist and smooth vocals on it. He was very interactive with the fans and he did an a capella rap performance, where he rapped 16 freestyle bars about people underestimating his talent. We even received a remixed intro to the 2007 Chris Brown collaboration hit “Kiss Kiss,” which made the crowd go wild.

Although I was hyped to see him perform many students felt it was less of a performance and more of a sing along to his biggest hits and features. Using only his auto tune, voice and his hype man, he led the crowd to sing along with his songs and brought a contagious energy.

The bass of the contagious beats made by his soundboard, and the bass exploding from the speakers trickling down to our feet created this electrifying, care-free atmosphere. I was surprised he didn’t crowd surf like he did in his video with Chris Brown for “Best Love Song.”

I do think that at some points of his performance, the energy of the crowd wavered until he brought back the old hits that everyone loved. I did expect a little more energy from him – being T-Pain, he is known as a hype master, but I guess the energy was not fully there.

He ended his performance with the 2009 Maino collaboration hit “All the Above.” Many students were left with empty confusion as to whether the concert was over already or if he was getting ready for another round. Knowing T-Pain, I would expect an encore but I guess the crowd’s energy was not as hyped up as it should have been.

Even though he didn’t end the concert with a bang as I and many others thought he would, I give T-Pain 4 out 5 stars.