Students put their hands in the air as a light show lit up Maggs Gym and a band in fluorescently lit panda masks played a series of mashups.
The gymnasium was transformed into a rave scene on Sunday as near 250 students came out to Gullfest’s “After Party” to see artists including The White Panda, Travis Porter and Kid Ink.
The turnout was much smaller than expected seeing that there were 1900 tickets available for sale and only 250 were sold.
Of the students that attended the event, many were pleased with the artists, but disappointed at the turnout of their fellow peers.
Junior Zoe Kaminski had seen The White Panda three times and this year was her first year coming to Gullfest’s annual concert.
“I was glad I came out to see White Panda, but I feel like there should have been more people in crowd because they deserve a hype crowd,” Kaminski said.
Junior Brendan Wrisk also attended Gullfest for the first time this year and was let down by the lack of student attendance.
“I love the artists, but I felt bad because they deserved more people to show up,” Wrisk said.
Senior Conor Johnston and junior Keaton Burke didn’t mind the lack of a crowd because it allowed them to be closer to the artists.
“I saw White Panda at Firefly and they were hype and I really like their music,” Burke said. “There were definitely a lot more people at Firefly, but this event is cool because I can get a lot closer since there’s not as many people.”
Senior Andrew Lipiec had a similar positive experience.
“This is the best concert I’ve been to in years,” Lipiec said. “I live for this.”
Members of The White Panda kept their energy levels high and played for nearly one hour before having to rush to the airport for their next show. The band’s tour manager Tom Smith explained they have a packed schedule, but they like it that way.
“I think the event’s great! Tour is kinda crazy you sometimes forget where you are,” Smith said.
“We are actually flying out of Baltimore for L.A. at 6 a.m. for another gig, but it’s really cool to just come out and go all of these places with the guys.”
Salisbury’s Student Organization for Activity Planning (SOAP) is in charge of running Gullfest every year. Madison Cambell, SOAP’s Concert Chair for next year, hopes to influence more students into coming to the event next year.
“Every time is a good time if you make it a good time and if you come out you can make it a good time,” Cambell said. “But people don’t want to come out to stuff like this because they don’t know the artist and it’s a shame because it’s a lot of fun and a cool experience.”
Coordinator of Student Life Joe Benyish emphasized that while the concert may not have had as large of a turnout as expected, those who attended did have fun and that’s what matters.
“I do think the event was successful because I think as long as you look around and people are having a good time I think that’s what we kind of use as a way of determining whether or not the event was a success, more so than numbers,” Benyish said. “Numbers don’t always mean success I don’t think.”
By CAROLINE STREETT
Staff writer
Featured photo: Travis Porter performing at Gullfest 2018 (Caroline Streett image).