Welcome Back rocks McCarthy Quad
This year’s concert brought students together through live music and celebration.
By SENWIN PAREJA
The pulse of the bass that DJ Daily Double started off the evening with matched the patient beating hearts of thousands of students who flocked to McCarthy Quad for the highly anticipated Welcome Back Concert by the USC Concerts Committee Saturday night with headliner Pi’erre Bourne.
Concert-goers were met with a giant display depicting a map of USC’s campus. For incoming freshmen and new students, the concert served as a sneak peek into their next few years.
“I really love live music,” said Yohana Teshome, a freshman majoring in communication. “I’m looking forward to finding new artists to listen to, so I’m really happy about this.”
At this year’s Welcome Back Concert, new students not only became familiar with the multiple locations on campus as depicted by the map, but could also gauge the overall campus vibe from the bustling conversations that took place throughout the event. Between each act, students competed in concert-wide games of Kahoot that tested basic USC trivia knowledge, giving new students a glimpse into campus life.
Next to the map display began the line of food trucks, ranging from the go-to sweet treat of churros by Churro Man to filling sandwiches from Stopbye Café, among others. The trucks were available to concert-goers throughout the night via the newly introduced PopPay, which used facial recognition for quick and easy purchases.
In front of the food trucks, the USC Concerts Committee set up other activities to cater to eager students wanting to interact with each other — including multiple cornhole stations and bracelet-making tables.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people and making amazing friendships,” said Viri Del Pesce, a freshman majoring in computer science and business administration, before the event began.
Finally, at 8 p.m., Frat Mouse — a self-described “emo-adjacent” and “garage rock” band and the night’s first opening act — took the stage.
Frat Mouse consists of members Griffin Meehan, Benjamin Lopez, Truman Sinclair and Nolan Kiser. Sinclair and Kiser are both USC students — Sinclair is a senior majoring in music production and Kiser is a senior majoring in popular music performance. Sinclair said he was caught by surprise at the invitation to play at this year’s Welcome Back Concert.
“I had no idea we were gonna get that call,” Sinclair said. “We are a niche emo band, at the end of the day. We play around USC a lot, so it makes sense. [Getting the call] was really cool.”
Frat Mouse, a local indie band, brought their emo-adjacent garage rock band concept to Saturday’s Welcome Back Concert in McCarthy Quad. (Frat Mouse)
Frat Mouse’s setlist included its debut classic “Grant Wasserstien,” “tokyo drift” from its most recent album “Plywood,” “motorbike,” — a fresh track Sinclair released himself — and unreleased material like “Thank You” from the band’s upcoming album.
“I hope that there’s mosh pits,” Sinclair said in an interview prior to the performance. “That’s my biggest dream. I hope people throw down.”
To the band’s satisfaction, a mosh pit of concert-goers formed during the set to match the energy the members of Frat Mouse brought on stage.
Feeding off of the energy Frat Mouse put into the venue, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter spill tab took over the stage. spill tab played fan favorites, including one of her more recent singles “Window” off of her 2023 EP “KLEPTO”. She also played “fetišh,” the opening track of the album, after seeing someone in the crowd hold up a sign with the song title.
By the beginning of the final act, there wasn’t a single space in the venue unoccupied by concert-goers, with an amalgamation of people forming directly in front of the stage that extended closer and closer to the back of the venue. Clusters of students also claimed their positions by the food trucks and on the side greenery of McCarthy Quad.
Nearing the end of the night, the energy of the venue reached its peak when headliner Pi’erre Bourne closed the show.
Bourne brought a fiery stage presence and kept his audience engaged by constantly repeating the call-and-response, “Yo Pi’erre! / You wanna come out here?,” his iconic producer tag as heard on “Yo, Pi’erre!” featuring Playboy Carti released in 2017.
Bourne played tracks found throughout his discography, but, most notably, ones that concert-goers unapologetically danced and vibed to, like “Drunk and Nasty” and “40 Clip.”
With the various activities, local acts, and emphasis on community, this year’s Welcome Back Concert catered to all students, new and old, and reminded them of what it truly means to be a Trojan.
