As EarthGang’s high-octane set came to a close and fans finally recovered from the mosh pits, the wait for University Union’s Juice Jam headliner, 21 Savage began. A half hour passed with no sign of 21 Savage and skeptical fans started saying that he wasn’t going to perform. But at 4:45 p.m., phones shot into the air as everyone captured a shot of 21 Savage ascending the steps clad in black.

For nearly an hour, the “Saint Laurent Don” performed to a frenzied college student crowd that began opening mosh pits almost immediately. There were times when 21 Savage seemed to stop and look out at the crowd, amazed at the energy level he was producing.

Trying to gauge the level of fandom in the audience, 21 Savage kicked the set off with some of his earliest hits including off of his collaborative extended play “Savage Mode” with Metro Boomin with tracks including  “No Advance” and “Ocean Drive.”

A screen depicting a hellish city landscape set ablaze on stage accompanied 21 Savage and further evoked the dark subject matter in each bar. His even-toned flow and calm nature allowed his lyrics to make their impact.

Midway through his set, he unleashed some of his biggest hits including “Rockstar” featuring Post Malone and tracks like “monster” and “a lot” of his new album “I Am > I Was.”

FLETCHER performs at Skytop for Syracuse students at annual Juice Jam concert. Elizabeth Billman | Asst. Photo Editor

21 Savage finally addressed the crowd, asking for everyone who has been cheated on to “put your middle fingers up” and launched into his song “X.” Wrapping up his set with his biggest song to date, “Bank Account” the rapper smiled down and said, “Syracuse, I love y’all thanks for having me.”

Contrasting the dark and aggressive set that 21 Savage delivered, the duo consisted of Olu and WowGr8 known as EarthGang hyped the crowd with their playful lyricism and light-hearted nature. Both pranced across the stage in vibrant outfits that reflected their colorful personas.

At one point, Olu called for four individuals to come be on stage as impromptu backup dancers, and the crowd swelled forward so that he could pick from the crowd. Security at the event quickly put a stop to it.

From their recent album “Mirrorland,” which was released on Friday, fans were treated to performances of “Top Down” and “Proud Of U.” The duo also performed the songs “Wells Fargo” and “Down Bad” on J. Cole and Dreamville’s compilation album “Revenge of the Dreamers III.”

Nearing the end of its set, EarthGang took a moment to talk about its song “UP.”

“This song came out about a year ago on COLORS on Youtube, but now it’s available everywhere.” Olu said “So you guys gotta get up for this.”

With that, Olu loosened his bandana and let his dreadlocks fly. At EarthGang’s conclusion of its set, the crowd had nearly doubled in size and clearly wanted to keep the party going.

Throughout the entire day, there seemed to be a theme of cheating ex-girlfriends and -boyfriends fueling some of the performers music as 21 Savage, FLETCHER and Mt. Joy all addressed the crowd about this issue.

“Do any of you have an ex that you absolutely hate? Well I do and I wrote a whole album about them,” FLETCHER said.

Drum sounds erupted from the indie stage as Mt. Joy’s set ceased, which led to a mass of people running to get a prime viewing spot for FLETCHER. While she may not have garnered the largest audience, those in attendance belted every song with the New Jersey native.

Highlights from her set included an alt-rock twist on Khalid’s “Talk” where she weaved in with her own song “You Should Talk” and her song “All Love.”

In an interview leading up to her performance, FLETCHER described her music as “aggressive and vulnerable and ‘TMI.’” And her continuous interaction and stories about her bar escapades created an intimate atmosphere that reflected this sentiment.

Syracuse students push to the front of the barriers to see 21 Savage perform at Juice Jam. Elizabeth Billman| Asst. Photo Editor

Each act built off each other’s energy throughout the afternoon and Mt. Joy was no exception.

By the time Mt. Joy took to the main stage for its first college show, a modest crowd had grouped together to see the Philadelphia-band perform. They breezed through its biggest songs “Sheep” and “Astrovan” and also jammed on Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” They pressed on with impassioned performances of two songs off of its upcoming album, “Let Loose” and “Come with Me.”

The band ended with “Julia,” but not before adding the inspiration behind it. “This song’s about getting high and eating food and an ex-girlfriend,” lead vocalist Matt Quinn said, “but the other part’s better.”

Kilo Kish, a rapper and visual artist from Brooklyn, had the difficulty of performing at 12:45 p.m. on the indie stage when only a smattering of people watched her set. Even so, she performed songs from her new album “mothe” and her previous works including her hit single “Taking Responsibility.” At the end of her set, complete with inventive choreography, Kilo Kish gave everyone a piece of advice.

“Have a good time in college. You never get it back.”

Published on September 9, 2019 at 2:13 am