Madeline Kuhns is a journalism senior and Mustang News opinion columnist. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
My 3 a.m. alarm buzzed on my phone, and I jolted awake to the sound of an Irish jig and my roommates preparing drinks in the kitchen. Though I despise being woken up early, I had to persevere for my final St. Fratty’s day at Cal Poly.
I can confidently say it was totally worth it, because Cal Poly crushed it for this year’s 4:45 a.m. Morning on the Green concert at the Lower Sports Complex on Saturday the 14. In my four years of Fratty’s at Cal Poly, this has been one of the best days. I think a lot of us that had experienced the craze and thrill of the annual block party were grieving it, and needed something that could stand up to the sheer number of students the block party brought.
During my freshman year in 2023, the street party was massive. Running into friends and classmates on Hathaway was a blast. Sophomore year, I was majorly concussed and slept through the celebrations; a year of doing nothing was a nice break from waking up early. Last year, my roommates and I threw a party to make up for the lack of street parties, and not all of us were old enough for the bars. I’m glad I was able to attend this year because it provided a great ending to my Fratty’s experience.
A crescent moon was high in the sky at 4:30 in the morning, and you could hear the bumps of house music and cheering from a mile away (literally). Police from Ventura County manned parts of campus by the Rec and blocked off some of the roads, but otherwise getting into the venue from Highland was very straightforward.
After a quick Uber ride down the hill, finding the entrance to the Lower Sports Field was relatively simple, especially given that you could follow the crowds of green shirts and ginger wigs. Our entry into the concert was super easy, thanks to the wristbands we picked up during the week.
At around 5:30, the attendants guided our wrists to put them up to the censor and we were in. Immediately, I was shocked at how massive the stage was and how high-tech the graphics and light shows were. It was hard to believe this was all set up in the last few days.
As far as the performers go, the first surprise DJ’s got us hyped for the rest of the show. I thought that Walker and Royce had some good minutes, but I felt like a lot of their songs sounded the same. My favorite part of Walker and Royce’s set wasn’t the music, but when they projected the penguins of Madagascar dancing on the screen. I thought it was a fun touch.
Regardless, the crowd was full of jumping freshmen and people sitting on top of shoulders to get a better view. In a way, it reminded me of the block party from years past. My only gripe with it was that I didn’t have as much fun running into my friends in random places like you would during the block party. Your squad was either at the concert or they weren’t, and trying to push through the crowd to find anyone was impossible.
Unfortunately, my friends and I departed the concert for the next best event (the bars) after the sun had risen. This seemed to be a common theme. A lot of the crowd began to dissipate around 7:30 a.m. and start walking to the downtown bars. A downside to the concert’s success was the over 21 attendees leaving for other events. Especially for my friends and I, we knew that the bars were on our bucket list for senior year and leaving a free concert wasn’t too much of a loss. In conversation after, we also discussed that as seniors we felt almost a bit too old for the venue surrounded by so many underclassmen.
After seeing some videos, I did wish we had stayed for Odd Mob. If his performance was anything like Shabang, I would have been Frat flicking and bumping all morning.
If I were one of the Cal Poly event planners, I would expect thousands of guests showing up next year because of the success of the event. Watching videos of the concert back, the picturesque views of the mountains in combination with laser lights and visuals made it feel like we were in a different place. Lit crazy movie, as they say.
One of the other pleasant surprises of the concert was the free food and water provided. We didn’t get to the booth in time for a breakfast burrito, but an airplane-quality ham and cheese croissant sufficed. I think this was a smart move by the university to keep people from getting overly intoxicated, allowing them to stay at the concert longer.
I was disappointed to hear there was no beer garden at the event like last year. On the other hand, I think this would have kept more 21+ students at the concert longer. Most of us were ready to keep drinking and head to the bars where we could buy drinks.
The massive porta-potties were also a great improvement from waiting hours for a fraternity bathroom or fearing a triple fine for urinating on the street. For the location of the concert, these bathrooms were likely as good as the university could get. It was fun that you could still pee as a group, like you normally do at the bars or at a party with your girlfriends.
The venue was equipped to fit so many people that you still got the excitement of being in a large group of intoxicated students. This made the lack of the street part less of a loss. The other upside to having a true musical event was that people were actually dancing to the music instead of standing around on the street with scattered speakers you could barely hear.
For an entirely free concert and excuse to party with my friends at 5 a.m., I think the school outdid itself planning for Fratty’s this year. I think (and hope) the concert will continue to grow into a bigger tradition and source of excitement for Cal Poly students, and I wish I had a few more years of school to watch it get better.