Review: Fetty Wap headlines an eclectic Outdoor Concert

Andreas Moss performs at the SUB Outdoor Concert on Sunday. Moss was the first of four acts.

Parker Reed

A beautiful spring afternoon brought an estimated 2,500 people to the Student Union Board’s spring Outdoor Concert, according to Jim Brockpahler, SUB’s entertainment programs coordinator. 

Walking to the concert in the shadow of a magnificent stage visible from blocks away was exciting. The stage SUB acquired for this show took a lot of attendees by surprise, everyone was anxious to be front row once the floodgates into the predetermined parking lot in north campus were released.

Swedish R&B singer Andreas Moss kicked off the event with an energetic take on pop music that utilized live drums and guitar. While the crowd wasn’t huge at the beginning, a solid stream of people shuffled in throughout his compact, four-song set which included original tracks like “Deep Down Below” and “Thinking About You.”

“I was called an abomination [in high school] … I couldn’t look myself in the mirror,” said Moss on discovering his sexuality at a young age. “There’s a beautiful moment in life when you learn to love yourself for who you are.”

KYLE, who went by SuperDuperKyle at the show, brought what seemed like greatest amount of energy to the crowd of mostly students, with touches of younger and older attendees. He was grinning the whole set, his charismatic charm was infectious.

DJ SuperDuperBrick began the show with a short hype session which included Brick getting the crowd pumped up with a variety of other artists’ tracks like Kendrick Lamar’s “Backseat Freestyle” and “Alright.”

“For the love of corn, lets turn up tonight!” said DJ SuperDuperBrick in reference to Iowa’s most noteworthy crop.

He and KYLE frequently danced together in choreographed breaks that had to be inspired by Power Rangers.

KYLE also utilized a live drummer and an effective set of visuals, which included an oddly detailed dancing alien, which brought a clear jump in production value. 

“We are fresh off of Coachella and this crowd is way more lit than Coachella, I’m not lyin,” KYLE said. “Iowa State, [Coachella is] overrated, I promise.”

KYLE’s set included a cover of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” and plenty of originals like the Billboard top-five single “iSpy.”

Los Angeles’ EDM trio Cheat Codes made their Ames debut after coming off of a performance at South America’s Lollapalooza and multiple appearances in Las Vegas and Mexico City.

“We played in rock bands before this … so a big part of our act is the songwriting,” said Trevor Dahl in a pre-show interview.

Cheat Codes’ set may have been the longest set of the evening, featuring many original songs such as “Sex,” the platinum-certified single “No Promises” which originally featured Demi Lovato and even bringing out Fetty Wap decked out in Iowa State gear for “Feels Great.”

The trio attempted to give the crowd an extra touch of energy by throwing out beach balls, an inflatable duck and even shots of actual dollar bills into the crowd, but each was thrown to the side of the stage by slight gusts of wind.

It was a relentless set, with little time to breath between powerful bass drops. When not performing and modifying original tracks live, the trio whipped out a multitude of other original remixes, including remixes of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Khalid’s “Young, Dumb and Broke.”

“Perfecting our craft is our plan,” Dahl said. “Our best is yet to come.”

If you were wondering if you’d here Fetty Wap’s (semi-ironically) iconic “1738” catchphrase at a live show, you would be extremely satisfied, as it was easily said over fifty times.

Fetty Wap and his crew hit the stage all dressed in Iowa State sweatshirts and jerseys and brought a much needed sense of fun after Cheat Codes’ overtly-serious set.

Many new tracks kicked off Fetty Wap’s hour-long set, which also saw a few non-original tracks that he’s been featured on in the past, like Fifth Harmony’s “All in My Head” and 6ix9ine’s “Keke.”

“I didn’t even know I could do this,” Fetty Wap said while busting out some dance moves.

Fetty Wap played his three greatest hits (“My Way,” “679” and “Trap Queen”) all in quick succession towards the end of the set, including an extended a cappella intro for all of them.

“I just bought my mom a house. And you’ll have to help me out with this one, as I haven’t been to school in over 13 years,” said Fetty Wap asking the crowd for assistance. “The dean’s list! My sister made the dean’s list and she was the first one in our family to graduate from college … I just always wanna give my thanks,” he concluded before “679.”

Fetty Wap’s set was surprisingly quick, but was filled with enough energy, dancing and surprisingly heartfelt stories to make for a satisfied crowd.

“This is the kind of stuff we should be spending our money on,” said Luke Goodman, junior in animal ecology. “F*** materialistic things. Events like this create memories and are always a good time.”