Advertising creative junior Sydney Sims, the music director at Impact, was on the planning committee for this year's concert. Sims said this year’s choice of artists was meant to draw the diverse MSU community together to celebrate music across genres. 

“When it came to… choosing an artist, it had to also do with just what we thought that the MSU community would appreciate,” Sims said. “We have two artists that showcase two different sides of like, you know, the music spectrum. So we have one who's a rapper, and one who's like an… indie pop artist.” 

She hopes the spring concert will give students a unique college experience, especially for freshmen or new Spartans who are still trying to find fun, community and themselves on campus.

“Just having a spring concert with, you know, a plethora of different artists is probably like a really great experience for people, especially when they're first starting out here at MSU,” Sims said. “It just gives them that other experience that not every other university does.”

At 8 p.m., Between Friends took to the stage and energized the crowd from the pit to the nosebleeds. Their indie pop sound filled up the Breslin as they played hits from their discography like “affection,” “iloveyou" and “What’s up.” 

“I've been listening to their music throughout the week because I had never heard of them until they were opening,” environmental sustainability senior Remy Matthews said. “They were good.”

Despite not being mainstream, Between Friends made their mark on the audience. Environmental studies and sustainability sophomore Mia Williams said she plans to listen to their music more after seeing them perform live.

“I listened to them a little bit at work on Spotify,” William said. “But I wish that I would have listened to them more."

Shortly after Between Friends’ departure, Waka Flocka Flame emerged onto the stage and was greeted by a receptive audience. He played his hit song “No Hands,” as well as many covers of other popular rap songs. 

“I only knew like ‘No Hands,’ and so I was kind of expecting to be like, you know, I'm just jumping around without knowing, but when he did like covers and stuff… I loved when he started playing 'Sexyy Red.'” Williams said. “Amazing, so cool.” 

Waka Flocka Flame spent most of his set mingling with the crowd. Starting off by jumping into the pit, the rapper then made his way around the venue through the first row of seats, interacting with the audience, taking pictures and expressing his love for Spartans. 

“I ended up getting a video with like me and him in it,” Williams said. “When he jumped into the crowd, his energy was amazing.”

At the end of the night, audience members flowed out of the Breslin Center with new memories. Williams and her friends praised the concert as a fun, affordable and accessible event, with tickets only costing students $10. 

An event filled with music, dancing and free goodies like stickers, t-shirts and pins, the 2024 spring concert was very well received by students like Matthews, who said she’s happy to have attended an event like this during her final year of school. 

“I've never been to like one of these concerts here,” Matthews said. “It was good. I'm glad I went, finally.”