Updated: Electro-funk duo Chromeo to headline A&O Productions’ Spring Ball, Vic Mensa to open
April 21, 2014
Updated, 11 a.m. Tuesday:
Hip hop artist Vic Mensa will open for Chromeo at Friday’s show.
Mensa has toured with Wale, J. Cole and Danny Brown and also appeared on Chance the Rapper’s “Acid Rap” mixtape.
Shuttles to the Riviera Theatre will leave from both Cahn Auditorium and Long Field between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Friday.
Original story:
The electro-funk duo Chromeo will headline A&O Ball on Friday at the Riviera Theatre.
The pair, including David Macklovitch, nicknamed Dave 1, and Patrick Gemayel, also known as P-Thugg, released their first album in 2004 and have gained popularity since. They are scheduled to release a new album, “White Women,” in May, featuring the already released single “Jealous (I Ain’t With It).” The album will also feature guest artists, including Solange in the song “Lost on the Way Home,” Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend playing piano in “Ezra’s Interlude,” and Toro y Moi in their piece “Come Alive.”
A&O spokeswoman Shelly Tan said the band will fit perfectly with the “mood of the campus,” emphasizing that it will be a good way for students to take a break from midterm season.
“In Spring Quarter, the weather is starting to warm up, people are getting ready to have fun and what better way than to have a dance party at an awesome place like the Riv?” the Medill senior said. “This artist definitely exemplifies that kind of crazy party energy.”
She added that Chromeo is on the rise, noting “if you haven’t heard of them before, in the following weeks, you are definitely going to hear of their name.”
The band has performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. They also traveled with their Come Alive Tour across the U.S. and Europe.
A&O concerts chair Morgan Hecht, a Communication junior, said she is looking forward to the concert, noting Chromeo is currently becoming more well known and has performed at several music festivals across the country. Hecht added the group wanted to pick a band that is “relevant,” and could put on a “high quality show,” and this duo exemplified both.
“This artist is being really buzzed about right now,” Hecht said. “Their set at Coachella was ranked like top 10 must-see sets. They’re playing at every single festival. They’re about to release an album.”
Hecht said the show’s location will further contribute to the energy of the duo during the concert.
“It’s a great historical space and we wanted to make sure that we had a fun artist come and it’s going to be definitely like a dance party, high-energy show,” Hecht said. “They have crazy lights, a crazy set and just really, really fun and I know that they will put on a wonderful show that people will be excited about.”
The band jokingly calls themselves the “only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture.”
Tan said she is excited for the concert and thinks students will enjoy the event.
“It’s a giant dance party,” Tan said. “If you can’t have fun there, you can’t have fun anywhere.”
A&O will announce the opener for the Spring Ball sales at a later date.
Tickets will go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m.
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Twitter: @beccasavransky