Derülo does it good, but not solo

By Cathleen Leitch

Provocative, aerobic, excellent and repetitive: these are all adjectives that describe last Friday night’s fall concert, sponsored by Rider’s Student Entertainment Council (SEC).

This year the SEC hosted the up-and-coming Jason Derülo and show openers Super Mash Bros. The concert sparked student interest more so than in recent years.

The crowd fell short of a sellout, but those who did attend were active and danced along. It seemed at times the whole crowd had their hands in the air while jumping with the beat.

Super Mash Bros. opened the show around 8:15 and played for what seemed to some too long.

“I think that the Super Smash Bros. played a lot longer than they should have and it was getting repetitive,” said junior Caroline Quan.

The duo fulfilled the hopes of SEC special event chairs, seniors Zach Braff and Nicole Halpin. Super Mash Bros. did a good job of pumping up excitement with their fast-paced remakes, but after an hour that excitement hit its peak.

The best part of this act was the visual aspect; the group did a great job with videos to coincide with their music. Dimming the lights and flashing colors helped Super Mash Bros.’ dance vibe. The visuals made the performance.

The reason Super Mash Bros. played for longer than expected was because Auburn, the planned second act, was absent. It seems there was some confusion as to tour dates she would appear at, but the show transitioned smoothly from the opening to the main act.

Derülo started his show with an intricate and robotic dance sequence. Right off the bat, the crowd knew this would be a great performance.

Derülo brought a backup band consisting of a drummer, guitarist, bassist and pianist. He also had several male and female dancers. He clearly came prepared to put on a show.

His vocal talents matched his dancing ability, both of which were fine tuned. He played many tunes off his self-titled debut album starting off with “The Sky’s the Limit,” which was a good choice to get the crowd to pay attention and more original than most artists because it was not a major hit. He did get to those three songs everyone thinks of when they hear Jason Derülo: “Ridin’ Solo,” “Whatcha Say?” and “In My Head.”

He even played two separate versions, one acoustic and one electric, with both “Whatcha Say?” and “Ridin’ Solo.” He also covered Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” which he did a fabulous job with.

This performance was provocative, to say the least. At one point, his female dancers ripped off his shirt throughout a song. The highlight of crowd involvement was when one female fan was picked out of the crowd.

Derülo made one condition: Whomever he chose had to let him do whatever he wanted. This brought on the screaming,  and Brittany Nardolillo, a junior and member of Zeta Tau Alpha, was chosen.

“When his backup dancer took me on stage I couldn’t stop smiling, and was so excited to be the one chosen out of so many girls in the crowd,” Nardolillo said.

Overall, the show was absolutely entertaining. Both acts did a wonderful job, but,  as is appropriate the headliner stole the show with the help of the live band and impressive backup dancers.