As many of you know, Movin’ On was this past Friday, and we here at State in the Real would like to tell you all how we felt about it! We had members of our team all throughout the event doing different things: covering the show, running the table in the sponsor tent, coordinating the whole event, snapping pictures, and so so so much more! Here’s what they had to say about the event!
Monica Consbruck:
From the first moment I got to Movin’ On I had a blast. Every band was amazing, including the local openers. Kids These Days put on a phenomenal show, and even though Gloriana didn’t have many fans there, it was clear everyone was loving all the covers they did. The hundreds of people that came out to relax, enjoy the show and the beautiful weather, and hang out created a great atmosphere.
As soon as Brand New hit the stage though, things got a little crazy. There were crowd surfers a plenty (although none lasted too long thanks to security) and fans that had traveled from near and far who didn’t hesitate to give Brand New all their energy and attention. People were wild with excitement and love for this band, and that didn’t diminish in the slightest throughout their whole set. Everyone was sad to see them go, but MGMT wouldn’t let people down.
In the breaks between the bands, I had an awesome time at the sponsors tent. State in the Real’s table was so much fun, bumping music the whole time and giving away t-shirts, bubbles, magnets, and stickers. Right before MGMT came on, State in the Real celebrated Movin’ On with an, albeit faulty, confetti popper. That was a lot of fun. The other tables in the tent that I thought were the most fun were The Lion 90.7 table, where everyone got free State in the Real t-shirts, and the EDMC table where they had an awesome prize wheel through which I actually won an awesome strobe light. The tent was a great time.
To wrap up the show, MGMT came out, starting with some of their older, but just as good, songs. They had this awesome light show/movie thing going on behind them, which I know the whole crowd thought was incredible. They played some popular songs, but unfortunately left out “Kids” which was one of my favorites. I was a little disappointed about that. Overall though, I thought every performer did an awesome job and Movin’ On was a total and complete success. I had an awesome time and I know all my friends and teammates did too. Now, I can’t wait for next year!!
Sam Metz:
Penn State’s mentality is and always will be: “Go big or go home.” I guess you could say the same thing for Movin’ On 2013, considering it’s the largest student-run music festival in the country. I was lucky enough to be apart of the Movin’ On 2013 CORE committee as one of this year’s headquarters chairs and it was one of the best experiences of my sophomore year at Penn State. My job for the actual event was to handle the big white tent and all the student orgs (including the one and only State In The Real!) underneath it, as well as band merch. Being behind the scenes for the event, bringing such huge acts to campus, and seeing it come together right before my eyes was absolutely incredible. From building the massive stages Thursday, to being at the field at 6:45am the day of the show to finish load in; from the sound checks, to my best friends in Automatic Habit opening the show, and delirium at the field at 5am Saturday after teardown, Movin’ On 2013 was everything I could have ask for and more. It was awesome to spend the day with all my best friends from home, and enjoy the beautiful weather. My favorite act of the night was hands down Brand New. Their music defined my freshman and sophomore years of high school and it was so awesome to finally see them live!
Johnny Chadwick:
Movin’ On is a full years worth of planning accumulated into one day of greatness. The team of students and production crew worked on building and tearing down the stages for over 36 hours to make the event possible. With a fantastic line up and huge turnout, this was one of the best Movin’ On Festivals to date. The sleeper entertainment act of the day was Kids These Days as they showed off a side of stage presence you couldn’t find with any other band. They even taught the crowd some dance moves from their hometown of Chicago. Gloriana was the calm before the storm as they kept it mellow and added a couple of cover songs. However, Rachel (vox for Gloriana) could have set the stage on fire that afternoon…
Brand New was my most anticipated act and they did not disappoint, considering it being their first time on stage since last August. These guys brought the storm. Jesse Lacey (frontman for Brand New) was all smiles and may have, possibly, maybe, could have slipped up a little bit on “Mix Tape” as he attempted to start it a little more abstractly but had difficulty transitioning into the actual piece. They played some of my favorite tracks from each album and I personally love that they start most of their sets with “Sowing Season.” Big Boi loved to push his respect for Joe Paterno (quite possibly to make up for some reckless social media associated with his act) but overall put on a lively performance.
MGMT did their thing but left many people wishing they would play “Kids.” They had an amazing “Video Wall” to back them up that used Xbox 360 Kinect cameras to help project psychedelic images of the performers. One our other writers (Steve) actually explained to me a little more about MGMT that I had little insight on. He informed me that the band’s sophomore album Congratulations is a tribute to the band’s individuality in the music industry. They have no desire to revolutionize a genre in music like most claimed they had with Oracular Spectacular. I still wish they had played “Kids” but this may shed some light on why they didn’t play it. Our table was a ton of fun as well and had plenty to offer. We got the chance to meet a lot of great people as interested in the local music scene as we are. To top it all off the weather held up for the first time in a few years and made for an overall phenomenal experience.
Post Movin’ On – One thing that bothers me about seeing many of the attendees comments is their misunderstanding of what they believed the concert should be. It was a concert that covered every genre and each genre had it’s own style. Some people may not have been fully prepared for what they were going in to with Brand New. Chaotic fans are pretty much the norm for these sorts of shows, so it was unfortunate for those who were new to the Brand New crowd and were overwhelmed. Their experience may have been a little more extreme than it normally would have, as the diehard Brand New fans were probably extra antsy since the band has been sparsely playing shows. Please, if you decide to go next year, plan out accordingly which acts you will actively participate in the crowd for.
Eric Poluhovich:
Movin’ On was awesome. A few of my friends came up for the weekend, and I got to hang out for the day with friends, see my favorite band (Brand New) live in concert (amongst a number of other talented performers), and have an all around good time. There was good music, free shirts, dancing, rocking out, and a lot of fun all around.
Chris Will:
When you’re at a festival that LITERALLY covers the entire gamut of different genres, then you’re bound to see a pretty diverse crowd, and that’s part of what made Movin’ On 2013 such a wild trip. Not only was every act completely unique from the others, but each act also put on one HELL of a show. I was head banging to Kids These Days, jumping around to Gloriana, going ALL OUT for Brand New, and grooving to MGMT. Each set had its own unique moment, and that’s how you know that the artists were definitely legit. I think my two biggest standout performances from the day were Brand New’s “Jesus Christ” and MGMT’s “Time To Pretend.” Those both were my favorite songs in high school, and getting to watch them live as a senior was out of this world. Wondershop Showdown and Automatic Habit definitely lived up to their BOTB victories and completely destroyed. Movin’ On 2013 wasn’t just a music festival. It epitomized how so many different types of music can bring so many different types of people together. I know that some people had issues with the crowd, but honestly I think Movin’ On 2013 was a huge success, and I definitely know for sure that I’m coming back next year for Movin’ On 2014.