Springfest’s triumphant return to USC

Students flooded the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Saturday, trembling with excitement for the return of Springfest, USC’s annual spring concert, last held in person in 2019. It was the first Springfest for a majority of the student body, and the first ever at USC’s beloved stadium.

With a new venue, a stacked lineup and a lifted mask mandate, this was USC’s first “normal” concert in a long time. The USC Concerts Committee, the organization responsible for Springfest, achieved its longtime goal of moving the concert to the Coliseum, according to committee co-director Benjamin Kronenberg. 

“The Concerts Committee has always dreamt of throwing Springfest at the Coliseum,” Kronenberg said. “It’s definitely something special to be able to throw a free concert for students to appreciate and enjoy [at] a landmark that they can really call their home.” 

Kronenberg said the committee selected Dominic Fike as the night’s main performer because they saw him as someone who could excite students.

“We wanted to focus on bringing artists to our shows who are relevant, but also incredible musicians,” Kronberg said. “[Fike]’s definitely someone we wanted to book all year.”

Vendor Village

Doors opened to students and guests at 4 p.m., but a few students — the artist residents of the Vendor Village — were present hours earlier to prepare their booths outside the Coliseum, between food trucks and the student stage. 

Prospective vendors applied to secure one of the 20 spaces. Selected groups ranged from long-standing student clubs such as KXSC Radio and Haute USC to newer student-run brands like Froot, a startup focused on making bra buying easier and more inclusive. For founders Nina Cragg and Ashara Wilson, their pop-up at Springfest presented a new challenge. 

“It was basically doing a mini manufacturing process ourselves,” Cragg said. “Going through that whole process of buying goods, packaging them, branding them, [has been] a lot of work.”

Other vendors came to Springfest with the same wish: to connect with a new audience. Across the Vendor Village, painter Adeline Jackson stood proudly behind a table of prints and T-shirts featuring her work. Jackson said that after crafting her collection throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Springfest was her first in-person event as a vendor. 

“[Springfest] is a great opportunity for more people — not just my friends — to be able see my art and hopefully resonate with it a little bit,” Jackson said.

Another unique aspect of the Vendor Village was the sense of community between vendors in attendance. Under an airbrushed canopy, Fort Reno founder Alex Carmen sat alongside his designed sweatshirts, vests and tees, basking the atmosphere.

“Being able to meet people and exercise my own vulnerability, to reach out to someone and have a conversation, it’s really nice to be able to do and vending helps me get better at that,” Carmen said.

Student Performances

As students perused the Vendor Village, the crowd around the student stage grew. The intimate stage was propped with background panels of long vertical mirrors with iconic art paintings in-between, producing a cozy environment.

Students were welcomed to that comforting sphere by opening student artist Mehki Clay with his debut single and the first song of his set, “waiting 4 u.” His purple crocheted bunny hat, orange-yellow rectangle glasses, gold embellished green vest and purple slacks reflected his electric energy, as he had the crowd reminiscing with iconic covers such as Paramore’s “Misery Business.” With the toss of his crochet cap into the audience and the conclusion of the first set of the night, Clay established excitement for the performers to come.

Following a brief intermission, Maddy Davis took the stage, welcomed by friends and fans. Her indie-pop love songs had the crowd clutching their hearts and waving their hands in the air — especially with the impressive lyricism of “Can’t Do This Alone.” Davis’ dancing on stage and jams with her guitarist inspired the crowd to head bop and sway to her tunes — many of which unfortunately aren’t released yet.

As the gleaming sun started to set, Ellie Williams brightened the stage with her vocal clarity and contagious musicality. With her overalls, electric guitar and charisma, Williams had the audience engaged throughout her set of hit songs and cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.”  During one of her songs, “Perfect Playlist,” a dance circle formed, with one student backflipping from excitement.

Ashes to Amber then transported attendees to a sunset drive down the Pacific Coast Highway with his groovy music. With his bright blue electric guitar adorned with orange flames, he commanded the crowd as the sun set — his incredible instrumental improvisation was the perfect soundtrack to a stunning Southern California moment.

Dusk was met with Alix Page’s ethereal voice as she sang her original song, “Frank.” The indie bedroom-pop tune recounts the artist’s story of a fleeting summer romance. After spending the year opening for Gracie Abrams on her “This Is What It Feels Like” tour, Page emoted solemn confidence on stage that sent listeners into a love-sick reverie. 

To finish off the student performances at Springfest, Sumit hyped up the crowd with a boisterous hip-hop set. He waved his hands, summoning the crowd to jump and sing along the entire time. The upbeat tunes lulled a large crowd dancing around the red and teal-lit stage, mirroring Sumit’s incredible background dancers. The performers splashed water onto the excited crowd — cooling them off and igniting their excitement for the headliners to come.

Dominic Fike

A long day of activities, vendors and student performances began to wind down as lines to the entrance continued to fill up. Students lined the outside gate of the Coliseum bringing both their guests and their excitement as they rushed to see opener Claire Rosinkranz and support SG Lewis.

As Fike’s set grew closer, it became clear that if you didn’t get there early, you wouldn’t be standing in the gated off section closest to the main stage. Between his EP, album and handful of singles, Fike had an extensive and relevant discography to choose from for his setlist — the only challenge would be including the favorites, which fans were hoping to hear live. However, not all attendees were familiar with Fike’s music before the concert.

“I honestly know him mostly from ‘Euphoria.’ I don’t really know his music, but he’s been on the radar recently, so I’m excited to see him,” said Grace Albano, a sophomore majoring in theatre.

Fike recently starred in Season 2 of HBO’s “Euphoria,” alongside Zendaya and Hunter Schafer. As a star on the rise, Fike stirred up a lot of buzz within the USC community, demonstrated by the hundreds of students who showed up to see him.

“[Fike is] honestly a really good choice because he’s relevant. They could have picked someone that was kind of famous, people knew, that was falling off, but I feel like Dominic Fike is just getting bigger,” Albano said.

As the clock hit 10, Fike came to the stage and the crowd erupted, cheering encouragingly. Fike opened with his song “Come Here,” and played some of his other hits, such as “Why,” “Açaí Bowl,” “Politics & Violence,” “Phone Numbers” and of course, “3 Nights.”

The crowd cleared out as Fike ended his set, pleased with a night full of USC student convivalry, great music and even some laughs, as Fike battled to remember the chords of “Why” on his guitar. Fans of his music and acting alike left satisfied, while others were fulfilled by just seeing the young star amid his rise.

With Springfest 2022 exceeding expectations, the committee is already looking ahead to 2023, excitedly planning next year’s festivities.

“[Springfest] is probably, I think, one of the coolest things that USC has to offer,” Kronenberg said. “We’re really proud of the way the show turned out, and I know that people on the committee are already starting to think of next year.”