A class act

Gym Class Heroes, The Pack, DJ Abilities rocked the Convo Center

By Kelly Fisher, a&e editor
Posted on October 8, 2007

The music blared, the crowd cheered and the floor shook as the Convocation Center turned into a massive dance party Wednesday night when Gym Class Heroes took the stage for UPB’s fall concert.

“It was amazing,” said freshman Brittany Bosak. “The energy, the lights – I just liked the whole atmosphere.”

Along with Gym Class Heroes, the Verizon-sponsored Campus Tour brought DJ Abilities and The Pack to JMU as show openers.

Before the concert, Verizon had several booths for concertgoers to grab some free merchandise. A green screen booth was also set up where people could make a 30-second music video dancing to Gym Class Hero’s “Clothes Off!” video. The clip would then be sent to the participant’s Verizon cell phone.

DJ Abilities kicked off the concert as people continued to file into their seats. He got the crowd energized with his remixed versions of “Stronger” by Kanye West and Outkast’s “Bombs Over Baghdad.”

The Pack, a California hip-hop group, followed DJ Abilities and got the crowd going with a cover of “Crank That Soulja Boy” by Soulja Boy. They then performed some of their signature songs, including “In My Car” and “Vans.” The four members of the group, Damonte “Lil’ Uno” Johnson, Brandon “Lil’ B” McCartney, Lloyd “Young L” Omadhebo and Keith “Stunnaman” Jenkins, wandered around the stage, often standing on a ledge right in front of the floor crowd.

Surprising the audience, Gym Class Heroes joined The Pack on stage during their last song, “Vans,” giving the audience a glimpse of what was to come.

The Convocation Center was packed with people by the time Gym Class Heroes finally hit the stage around 9:45 p.m..

The band walked out with lead singer, Travis “Travi” McCoy wearing a creepy facemask.

“It’s been a long time, Virginia,” he said. “Maybe too long. We missed you guys.”

McCoy was referring to their last visit to Harrisonburg in April 2006 when they performed at The Pub during MACRoCk, a music festival that showcases both local and national independent artists.

Gym Class Heroes, made up of McCoy, Matt McGinley (drums), Eric Roberts (bassist) and Diashi Lumumba-Kasongo (guitar), then got down to business.

They kicked off their set with “New Friend Request,” which got the audience pumped up.

“Where’s all my ’80s babies at?” McCoy asked the crowd. “This one’s for you.”

Then performed “Shoot Down the Stars, followed by “Taxi Driver” and “Papercuts.”

The band went right into their biggest radio hit to date, “Cupid’s Chokehold.” It seemed as if everyone in the crowd knew all the lyrics and danced and sang throughout the entire song.

Next they performed an unlikely remix of “Hey There Delilah,” by Plain White T’s, featuring McCoy’s 17-year-old cousin, Tyga, followed by “Make Out Club” and “Queen and I.”

Before “Viva la White Girl,” McCoy explained something to the crowd.

“Sometimes as humans we forget what metaphors are,” he said. “This song is not about cocaine. It’s about being addicted to music.”

Other songs included a cover of the Artic Monkey’s song “Leave Before the Lights Come On,” “Pillmatic,” “On My Own Time” and “Scandalous Scholastics.”

For their encore of “Clothes Off!,” McCoy surprised everyone by performing right in the middle of the crowd while four female concertgoers got to dance on the stage with the rest of the band.

“I liked how [McCoy] came down into the stands at the end,” said senior Holly Needham after the show. “He got really personal with the students.”

It wasn’t only the audience that enjoyed themselves Wednesday night. McCoy summed up the band’s impression of the JMU crowd when addressing the audience at the end of the show.

“You guys, hands down, made this the best ... stop on the whole tour.”