As you walk into the hazy, intimate music venue, there’s a buzz in the air coming from the mob of college students clumped near the stage. You take a look around. There’s a bunch of guys with snapbacks and shirts halfway unbuttoned, reeking of reefer and drinking out of red solo cups. Then you have the girls, few in number, yet obnoxious all the same. They have on the obligatory crop top, booty shorts, and heels, and are daintily drinking cocktails.The underaged girls, unable to drink, can be found incessantly taking selfies with their iPhones — so much so, that eventually the bright flashing lights become almost blinding. This is the unique crowd that has come out to the Brighton Music Hall on a Friday evening to see Asher Roth, the one-hit wonder of “I Love College” fame.
After impatiently listening to the opening act, the crowd began to eagerly shuffle about, anxiously waiting for Roth’s grand entrance. After 20 minutes, a figure suddenly appeared on stage. The crowd gasped with excitement, thinking it was Roth. They were disappointed, however, when it turned out to be none other than his live DJ.
He was short and wore a snapback that was one size too big, black-rimmed glasses, and a sweater with a tiger’s face on it — as if he had hit up the sales rack of Urban Outfitters before coming to the show. The opposite of your average DJ, he seemed meek and out of place in the venue. But he quickly whipped out his MacBook and a beat soon began to pulse. A track started playing over it, repeating the phrase, “You’re now wrecking with the best man, Wreckin Eyez. He has glasses. Repeat.”
Was it a joke? Nope. This pale, skinny little white boy was Asher Roth’s DJ. He yelled, “We got any Asher Roth fans in the building?” The crowd erupted with cheers and applause, giving the DJ exactly what he wanted. He followed up with, “We are not turning down tonight!”
After the accompanying band took the stage, the audience knew that it would only be seconds before the rapper finally appeared. Finally, a lanky guy wearing black skinny jeans and an oversized blue sweater popped through the door. With golden hair flowing past his shoulders, the Pennsylvania native grabbed a mic and kicked off the show.
He pleased the crowd by playing a mixture of both old and new material. Among the songs were “G.R.I.N.D.,” “Common Knowledge,” and “Fast Life.” The rapper was energetic and interactive on stage, even stealing a few girls’ cellphones to film himself and the rowdy audience. At one point during the show, he split the crowd in half and invited the audience to boogie down the middle. A couple of brave (drunk) volunteers danced their way down, and Roth himself surprised many when he jumped into the audience and started to bust a move as well.
As the end of his set neared, fans started to get excited, knowing that the last song was going to be his smash hit “I Love College.” When the popular melody began to play, you could hear every person singing the words. A bold admirer jumped onto the stage and hugged Roth, then started performing along with him. Surprised by the lack of an effort to shoo him off stage, others followed his lead and climbed onstage until there was no space left to stand.
Roth eventually crowd surfed for a few seconds, but the majority of the audience members were too inebriated or weak to hold him up for long. Once back on stage, he gave one final wave to the crowd and thanked them for coming out and showing their support. He then continued offstage, leaving a group of crazy fans bouncing onstage long after he’d gone.
