070 Shake, redveil bring the energy to sold out A&O Ball
April 30, 2023
Rapper 070 Shake, donning a black sweatshirt, kicked off her performance at the A&O Ball Thursday night with a glass of red wine in hand.
The concert at Metro Chicago sold out in about 15 minutes, according to Medill senior Delia Corridon, co-head of production for A&O. A&O partnered with WNUR for a ticket giveaway to give students another chance to get tickets.
“She had a chill vibe when she came out and then it ramped up,” Corridon said.
Corridon said 070 Shake did a great job of engaging Thursday night’s crowd. 070 Shake encouraged students, who gathered at Metro Chicago in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood, to do a mosh pit. During her set, she sang repeatedly from the barricades of the stage during her set.
At one point, she brought a Northwestern student on stage to crowd surf.
“We didn’t know that was going to happen,” Corridon said. “She said ‘who is gonna get up on stage?’ and pulled one of the kids out onto the stage. I was like ‘oh my gosh.’”
Corridon said during the opening act, rapper-producer redveil, brought a lot of energy to the show, revving up the crowd for 070 Shake.
Corridon said it was interesting to see someone so young working in the entertainment industry, since redveil is only 19 years old. She added redveil has a cult following among members of A&O.
Weinberg sophomore Sajel Peters missed redveil’s performance because of delayed buses from campus, but said she enjoyed 070 Shake’s set, especially the songs that she’s featured with –– including Kanye West’s, “Ghost Town” and “Violent Crimes.”
“She found a really good medium between the vibe of her songs and the energy she brought to the crowd,” Peters said.
Peters said she added a lot of 070 Shake songs to her Spotify playlists after attending the concert.
Weinberg junior Kashish Dhawan has been a fan of 070 Shake since last summer. She said her favorite moment of the concert was the song “Skin and Bones.”
“It felt very intimate because she was very casual and relaxed, which is almost better than a big production-type concert,” Dhawan said.
Dhawan said going to a concert with only NU students has its benefits and drawbacks.
She said she loved being with her friends at the concert. But, not every member of the crowd is as big a fan as those you would see at typical concerts.
“The audience is a little bit less enthusiastic at times just because it’s a free concert with free transportation,” she said.
She added that she wished the set had been longer, but she is still glad she was able to see 070 Shake.
Both Peters and Dhawan said they were surprised 070 Shake did not sing “Escapism,” a song she is featured on with singer-songwriter RAYE that reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in January.
“I was bummed out (that) she didn’t sing “Escapism” because it’s a song everyone knows, and the crowd would have been fun,” Peters said.
Corridon said she did not know why 070 Shake did not sing “Escapism,” but speculated that it’s because she is only a featured artist on the song.
Still, Peters said live music will never disappoint her.
“A&O Ball is such a fun thing to do during Spring Quarter, and it’s fun to see so many Northwestern students in the same place, ” Peters said. “I really appreciate it.”
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Twitter: @KristenAxtman1
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