Streams of confetti shot into the air as opener Alt9 dropped the beat. The So You Think You Can DJ? winner, computer engineering sophomore Luke Liberatore, pumped up the crowd as people filed onto the field. Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) Events’ third Spring Stampede had begun.
ASI Events Musical Entertainment Assistant and experience industry management senior Kelsey Carter said in comparison to previous Spring Stampedes, there was a great turnout.
“The crowd really enjoyed themselves and had a great time,” Carter said. “One thing that was different was that there [were] more students dancing and being involved and engaged in the music.”
Despite tickets being sold for $15, slightly more than past quarters, Carter said she doesn’t think price negatively affected ticket sales.
Electronic DJ trio Cheat Codes played after Alt9, performing crowd favorite “No Promises,” their most recent single that features Demi Lovato. They ended their set with “Sex,” earning extra cheers every time plumes of smoke shot out over the audience.
The Cheat Codes origin story
When Trevor Dahl and Matthew Russell moved to Los Angeles at roughly the same time, Dahl was looking for a couch to sleep on. Russell had a small laundry room that was unoccupied and after little consideration, Dahl moved his things into the room that was previously reserved for the washer and dryer.
“I said, ‘Yo, if you want to pay me to sleep in my laundry room, that’s fine with me,’” Russell said.
Once settled, Dahl experimented with the space and created an in-house studio where the two played and created music.
“I was actually pretty pissed because I hadn’t thought of the idea to turn the room into a studio. It was all his [idea],” Russell said.
They made music separately at first. However, they listened to each other’s styles, Dahl and Russell started writing together just for fun, with no intentions of a project. This was until they joined forces with Kevin Ford, a small rapper who Russell produced songs for in the past. Ford wanted to get the group together to do “DJ music.” Cheat Codes was formed and they released their first song “Visions,” which became number one on hype machine and earned a couple million plays on Spotify.
“We thought, ‘Wow, we should really keep this thing going.’ We were just getting together to try it out and see how everything worked,” Russell said.One of the main reasons the members wanted to start the trio in the first place was because they all came from different types of music.
“I was bored of the music that I was doing, acoustic singer-songwriter stuff,” Dahl said. “I got tired of the same song and the same instruments at least. The appealing part about dance music is that you can blend any type of genre together. It was cool to start something that would be forever changing, you know.”
Cheat Codes said they play all types of music because they think it helps them connect with their audience.
“We like to see what they are into. We can be inspired by the music they are listening to or making. It’s perfect because you never really get bored,” Russell said.
At Spring Stampede, Cheat Codes bumped music from the recreation fields that spanned from trap, house, rap and hip hop. They all switched off controlling the board, directing the crowd and dancing on stage. Hands waved in the air as the sound vibrated heads that bobbed in unison to the beat of “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar. It seemed they knew exactly what to play to get the crowd excited.
“We play colleges all the time,” Russell said. “They are some of our favorite shows. They rock. It’s so much fun because college kids really know how to party.”
Moshing it out
Almost immediately after Cheat Codes closed their set, headliner Flosstradamus made his way onto the stage.
As soon as he began his set, students took direction from the DJ’s most well-known song “Mosh Pit” and sweaty bodies flung against each other. While the other artists spent about an hour on stage, Flosstradamus kept the concert going longer by playing remixes of “Gasolina,” “My Way” and “Broccoli.”
Flosstradamus told the crowd he wanted to watch the sunset with Cal Poly students and didn’t stop bumping music until the sun was long gone.
Meeting the legend
This year, ASI Events held a contest where students could win the chance to meet Flosstradamus and a special guest. In order to enter the contest to win two meet and greet passes, a student had to post a new picture with their favorite concert companion and tag @ASIEvents on Instagram.
Business administration junior Marissa DiSandro won the contest and brought a friend. DiSandro and wine and viticulture junior Mich Inouye met Cheat Codes before they performed and Flosstradamus, one of DiSandro’s favorite artists, after his set.
“He kept the crowd hyped the whole time! And I was non-stop dancing from beginning until the end,” DiSandro said. “I’ve been a fan of Flosstradamus for a few years now and this was my fourth time seeing him, so I was really happy to finally meet him.”
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