Northwestern students braved the cold Sunday and turned out for a concert featuring indie rock band Best Coast and electronic artist Baths, sponsored by A&O Productions and benefitting Dance Marathon.
According to the executive directors of DM and the chairman of A&O, the show raised around $900 in donations for the 2012 DM beneficiary.
Scott Ritter, co-executive director of Dance Marathon, said the DM staff was excited for the show even before the artists were announced.
“It’s the beginning of spring, so we might as well celebrate,” the Communication junior said.
Chase Jackson, chairman of A&O, said the concert was an absolute success.
“I think we had about 450 students. It was a huge turnout,” the Weinberg junior said, adding that it was one of A&O’s “chillest shows.”
Both Jackson and Kunal Joshi, also a co-director of DM, emphasized the importance of collaboration between the two student groups.
Elsa Stahura, co-director of promotions and public relations for A&O, said the organization would like to collaborate with other student groups in the future and it is a possibility that A&O and DM will work together again.
According to Barry McCardel, chairman emeritus of A&O, the groups wanted to bring an artist that would be light and springy.
“Best Coast seemed like a very obvious choice,” McCardel said. “Of all the acts we’ve brought this spring, I really couldn’t have asked for a better one to go out on.”
Opening artist Baths, the stage name of artist Will Wiesenfeld, created music with a laptop and sound-mixing equipment. He attempted to warm up the crowd by encouraging them to dance.
“This is a show, but it’s also an exercise in warming you guys up,” he said, referring to the 50-degree weather. “It’s a weird dancing environment, but try your best!”
Baths’ 2010 album “Cerulean” scored the 21st spot on the A.V. Club’s “Best music of 2010” list and was given an honorable mention on Pitchfork’s “Albums of the Year” list.
Communication sophomore Sam Fishell said it was interesting to watch Baths mix his own music on stage.
The headlining band, Best Coast, hails from California and will play at Lollapalooza later this year. The three-person band’s 2010 album “Crazy For You” ranked 39th on Pitchfork’s “Top 50 Albums of 2010” list.
The band played crowd-pleasing songs like “Boyfriend,” “Crazy For You,” and “When I’m With You,” in addition to newer songs.
When Best Coast took the stage, bundled-up frontwoman Bethany Cosentino told the audience she was wearing the most clothes she’d ever worn on stage.
“It’s hard to make guitar chords when you can’t feel your hands,” she said, although she said she liked the scenery by the lakefill.
Cosentino consistently referenced the cold, prefacing the song “Summer Mood” by pointing out that the song is about “summer, which it most definitely is not.”
Weinberg freshman Isabel Rodriguez-Vega said the concert was worth standing outside in the cold.
“I’d never heard the band before,” she said, “but it was awesome.”
