The Founder’s Day Celebration happened for Penn State on February 27 with all- day activities happening in the HUB-Robeson Center celebrating the birthday of the university. The day ended with a free concert located in Alumni Hall that featured the bands fun. and Parachute brought by the Lion Ambassadors and Student Programming Association (SPA). The show was anticipated throughout the day so therefore it was known there were to be to “fun” moments throughout the night.
Doors did not open until 7 so a line filed all the way through the ground floor of the HUB and out the doors by the Penn State Bookstore so right away the show promised to have its moments. When I walked into the venue, President Rodney Erickson shared words with students commemorating the celebration and the efforts of both organizations before the show officially began. First on the bill was the pop-alternative band Parachute who came out to delightful cheers from the crowd. They went into their show and lead singer Will Anderson and keyboardist/vocalist Kit French did double duty vocals for most of the set while the other members had shown off their skills in respective solos on guitar and drums. Their set had included a vast variety of songs including their popular song “Kiss Me Slowly” and also a cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Their last song “What I Know” consisted of their rendition of the chorus of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Overall, their set had its ups and downs and got the audience ready for the main attraction.
After a quick stage setup, headliner fun. had come out to a loud uproar from the audience when the lights dimmed. Frontman Nate Reuss & Co. started with a couple numbers from their already critically acclaimed album “Some Nights” that had his vocals singing loudly with some autotuned backups. They moved their set into their older album “Aim to Ignite,’ with Ruess calling it “old stuff.” Students were fully participating with the band in either singing choruses or jumping in unison. The band played through the rest of the set to much audience accaim, including two encore songs. They had bid farewill to Penn State students with gratitude. The concert overall had an amazing light experience and overall good acoustics. fun. had come to Penn State to close out the Founder’s Day Celebration with a sure bang and had students being totally grateful for being at the show
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Photos: Jessica Yochim