The Student Union Board of Governor (SUBOG)’s UConnic was held on Thursday, April 11, 2024 in Gampel Pavillion. Before the concert itself, there was speculation on different social media platforms of whether or not this year’s show would be as good as past years. As someone who has never been to UConnic until recently, I wanted to go in order to get fresh eyes on the event.
“UConnic flop challenge”
This years headliner was not a fan favorite. There was a lot of criticism and backlash from students when the UConnic Instagram announced that Swae Lee would be headlining this years event. Many students took to Instagram comment sections and YikYak to post about how they will not be in attendance this year, even going as far as complaining about the board itself and the lack of effort that they put in. Other students compared UConn’s annual concert to surrounding schools.
Backstage presence
I actually managed to get a pass to be backstage with some of the openers and other people from SUBOG who were working the event. Regardless of the hate that the organization has been getting over the past few weeks, they remained positive, energetic, and overall excited! There were vice chairs giggling with friends and reminiscing about past events that SUBOG has done and what they look forward to working as the semester wraps up, openers practicing their setlist before they went on, and EBoard ensuring that everyone was informed and up to date on any last minute changes.
The Show
Sini
The night started off with Sini, a very… interesting group. Definitely nothing that I could’ve ever expected out of an opener for UConnic. There was a mix of genres in their discography ranging from more chaotic rock to a slower more “romantic” vibe for lack of better works. Their set was paired with psychedelic alien tech visuals on the screen. I know this sounds a bit strange, but just try to imagine an alien ship — that’s the vibe it gave. For a majority of their songs, they were screaming so loud to the point where they were unintelligible, which just confused me even more. But what really topped it off was that they weren’t just on stage to sing, they had a short skit in store. At some point the main singer was arrested by Batman which was strange but funny nonetheless. The crowd seemed to be just as confused as I was but regardless people still got a good laugh, which seemed to be their main goal. Rating: 2/5 stars, lost points based off of unintelligible songs, mic issues, and overall confusion.
Tara Sunne
Akshi, also known as Tara Sunne, was my favorite opener out of the three in terms of vocals and visuals. I’m not the biggest fan of having someone scream at me, so this was a great turnaway from that. Sunne, her two background singers, and guitarist played “little dreams — acoustic,” “Need You More,” “courage,” and covered Noah Kahans “Stick Season” as well as Renee Rapp’s “Tummy Hurts.” I honestly had the best time listening to her rendition of both covers and singing along was very easy. Rating 4/5 stars, lost points for constant tech issues being fixed mid set, but that isn’t her fault!
Saby
The last opener of the night was Saby. There were a lot of concerning parts of his set, the main one being the fact that he lost his voice before UConnic and decided to go on anyways. While this is admirable, I honestly couldn’t understand most of what he said. His songs were not what caught my attention but his hype man! They both bounced off each other, when Saby was struggling with his voice and going to take a sip of water, his hype man was there to back him up. He had amazing crowd control and his set seemed very prepared and put together. 3/5 stars, points taken off for his lost voice and his hype man being a bit too much at times.
The Headliners
Bryce Vine
Bryce Vine shortly came on after Saby, and this was the moment that I was waiting for. I haven’t listened to Bryce Vine since I was in the eighth grade but I was still so excited to get the sense of nostalgia that I always chase. He played some of his newer songs but there was one that I was waiting for in particular: “Sour Patch Kids.” He kept the crowd engaged and excited by freestyling some lyrics talking about being at UConn as well as keeping us hydrated. (He kept throwing water at people? I dont know.) He did end up playing “Sour Patch Kids” and it was a great ending to his set. 4/5 stars, the water throwing was really weird.
Swae Lee
Swae Lee and his hype man had amazing crowd work from the get-go. While he was very aware and open to the fact that he was not the popular choice for a headliner, he did not let this stop him from putting on an amazing performance. His visuals were electric and in tune with the UConnic theme. Something I loved about him were his song intros, specifically “No Flex,” talking about UConn flexing to the world both with the back to back championships and having him fly out from Miami to be there. He did not fail to mention throughout that UConn “got that real winner energy.” The bass of the set genuinely shook my whole body to the point where I was struggling to breathe, and I loved it. Overall, the set and the vibes were amazing. 5/5 stars, I’d even give him an extra point for playing “Sativa.”
Overall
I genuinely did not expect to have as much of good of a time at UConnic as I did. With all of the backlash and negativity along with the fact that it was my first time, I was a bit nervous. But having a good set of friends with me to dance the night away and chat between sets was really all I needed to top off the experience. Through Batman arresting someone, a lost voice, nostalgia, and core-shattering bass, UConnic this year was a lot better than I anticipated. It was genuinely a really cool experience and the only negative thing I have to say is I’m mad I didn’t attend previous years. I commend the board who put this on, I definitely saw their hard work throughout the event and I look forward to attending UConnic next year! 5/5 experience.