CLU hosted for the second time its very own music and arts festival, Cal Lu Palooza last Friday, April 10 in Kingsmen Park. Close to 400 people came and saw 12 local artists broadcast their talents, witnessed a surprise rap battle and divulged in free waffles and shaved ice provided by ASCLUG.
Austin Linkous, who has been in charge of the event both years, said that they were much more prepared to host such a large event this time around compared to last year.
“This year was different because a lot of the groundwork was already laid out for the event. Last year was our first time ever putting Cal Lu Palooza on and we really didn’t know how to put on an event of this scale on campus. This year we knew how to get all of the paperwork and administrative work taken care of, so we could focus more on making the event bigger,” Linkous said.
One of the things that separated this year’s Cal Lu Palooza from last year is that they opened the event up to all music production majors, not just the Music 482 class. They also reached out to more organizations on campus and had iCLU, programs board, and ASCLU involved with the event. They also featured local vendors and raffles, where the prizes were Disneyland tickets and a Fender Guitar signed by Imagine Dragons with the proceeds benefiting The Fender Music Foundation.
Shane Thompson, a recurring performer at Cal Lu Palooza is glad that CalLutheran gives their students a chance to showcase their talents and shows appreciation for the music production students.
“I like that CLU is willing to be on the frontier of providing the means for young musicians to perform our craft in front of a crowd. Live music is arguably the best part of music in general so I’m really pleased that CLU allows us to do it in such a cool atmosphere like Kingsmen Park,” Thompson said.
Thompson admitted that his favorite moment was when he challenged one of the spectators to a rap battle on stage. “The whole thing was completely improvised and it was a lot of fun. Not sure exactly who won the ‘battle’ but I know it’s something I’ll never forget about,” Thompson said. Check out Cal Lu Palooza’s Facebook page for the video footage!
If you wish to take part in planning next year’s Cal Lu Palooza, you need to sign up for the Music 482 class. For those who want to perform, the class will announce in the spring semester that they are looking for musicians for the event.