A crowd gathers for a concert at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, featuring rapper Asher Roth, for USFSP Live, Aug. 24, 2018. Allison Weinbecker | The Crow’s Nest
By Allison Weinbecker
When USF St. Petersburg students found out Asher Roth was slated to perform at Jannus Live and close out Week of Welcome, they were beyond confused. They did not know who he was, and even after looking him up, they were still lost.
“I was not familiar with his music, but I had heard his name before. I wasn’t very excited to be honest,” freshman Trevor Martindale said.
After research and an intense Spotify jam session at The Reef with a few other freshmen, we found out he’s a rapper who sings a song about sushi, which I found laughable, as well as the infamous college chant, “I love college.”
As I listened to this specific song, I wondered why USF St. Petersburg, the college that bans smoking from its campus, hired a rapper whose single from 2009 encourages drugs, alcohol and parties.
As baffled as I was, I decided to give it a go.
It started raining at about 5 p.m. and continued throughout the performance.
Jannus Live is only a short walk from campus, but the downpour discouraged students from putting their free tickets to use.
“If it weren’t for me being friends with Kyle [Curtiss], I probably would not have gone due to the rain,” Martindale said.
Despite this, students and the general public continued to trickle in throughout the show.
Curtiss, the opening act and DJ, got the crowd up and on its feet. His set included everything from new rap music to songs that got the whole group “in their feels.”
Although the crowd only consisted of about 75 to 100 people, their cheers could be heard from around the block.
The rowdy mob promptly hushed after Curtiss exited the stage following his impressive performance. You could almost feel the skepticism whisper through the audience as Asher Roth’s DJ walked on stage to set up for his set. I’m not sure that anyone knew what to expect from the infamous one-hit wonder.
But what they got was not only a performance, but an experience.
As Roth stepped onto the stage, the crowd let out a slight cheer, but what he did next surprised us all. He kicked off his Birkenstocks and jumped off the stage into the crowd.
His long hair and carefree attitude had us immersed not just in his music, but also his lifestyle.
His songs touched on missing people, figuring out yourself and enjoying what you have, which left me, along with a hundred others, captivated.
He even commented on how his one hit song, “I Love College,” was created to enlighten the world about what really happens in college, not so much to encourage bad behavior.
“(His set) was well-performed and he responded very well with the crowd,” freshman Emmy Vaughn said.
Everyone who attended must have been pleasantly surprised by both performances from Curtiss and Roth due to the sheer excitement that radiated through the audience.
“I honestly had no idea who Asher Roth was before the show but seeing him perform was amazing,” freshman Rachel Daly said.
Curtiss brought an exciting, new and edgy performance to the mix, introducing some newly produced songs, while Roth embraced a more personal connection to the crowd.
At one point I am pretty sure that everyone in the audience, Roth among them, flapped their arms like birds for seemingly no reason except to make it interesting.
Roth attempted to change his image in the mind of everyone in attendance. I believe I can speak of most of us when I say that he did.
