A lawn full of people flipped their wrists and pumped their arms by the light of a glowing green skull Sunday night as electronic artist Dan Deacon incited dancing and singing, performing for the mass from a carpet of grass rather than a stage.
Opening artist Boy Crisis and headliner Deacon performed on Norris University Center’s East Lawn for the One Voice Benefit Concert, organized by One Voice, Mayfest, A&O Productions and Niteskool. This year’s donation-based concert included a food drive and went toward relieving hunger in Asia.
Weinberg senior Caryn Wille, promotions co-chair for Mayfest, said the group received more than 100 donations of non-perishable food items, which will be given to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
“It was fantastic,” Wille said of the night. “Everyone who turned out had a good time.”
One Voice co-Chair Garrett Christensen said the group raised about $50 but said raising awareness about the issue by talking about it during intermission was the night’s main objective.
“It was a good balance of people wanting to see the artist and us disseminating information,” the Weinberg senior said.
Deacon surprised the crowd by showing up in their midst and began with a comedic story involving a restaurant and a talking dog.
As Mayfest volleyballs bounced around and colorful lights flashed, Deacon then instructed the crowd to perform the “creepy ritual” he has audiences do prior to each of his performances.
Students were told to raise their left hands, firmly plant their feet on the ground and reach for the sky. The ritual continued with clenched fists and shouting, a “loosey-goosey” stage and a shout-out to favorite “Lion King” characters.
“Let’s stand up and start to dance,” Deacon shouted after the ritual, before diving into his song “Okie Dokie.”
The hour-long concert included a dance-off during which Deacon had students form a large circle on the lawn. He randomly chose two students to dance like “Jurassic Park” and “Avatar” before picking out the next two audience members to carry on their team’s dancing.
Communication junior Julia Weed was the first member of “Team Prince,” who was asked to dance like Avatar. Weed said she took jazz for a year and wasn’t good but enjoys dancing.
“I like to pop and lock it,” she said.
Another high point of the concert was “Silence Like the Wind Overtakes Me,” at which point Deacon instructed the crowd to sing along. A chorus of arms waved and then pumped with the music as the artist fed the crowd notes.
Communication junior Barry McCardel, A&O chairman, said one of the reasons the groups chose Deacon is because he’s an interactive performer.
“It’s not just about the music,” McCardel said. “It’s about the experience.”
Deacon dedicated his final song, “Wham City,” to Bienen sophomore Zach Robinson, who provided Deacon with a gig in Los Angeles years ago when the artist couldn’t get any shows. Deacon said he felt like a creep when he showed up to a party of Mountain Dew, M&M’s and Guitar Hero, as he didn’t realize Robinson was 15.
The crowd booed at hearing it was Deacon’s final song.
“This is like a first date,” Deacon said. “It went really well. We didn’t kiss, but we were close.”
Weed said she loved Deacon prior to the concert but was unsure if his concert style would be a good fit for NU students.
“I didn’t think he would be,” Weed said. “But he was.”
Deacon stayed after the show to sign autographs-including Weed’s arm-and chat with students.
“It felt great,” Deacon said of performing for NU. “It was one of my favorite shows in a while.”
