Kaydee Gawlik
Grammy award-winner Jon Bellion headlines Wolfstock on Stafford Commons on Friday. Union Activities Board sponsored the Wolfstock concert that featured Lawrence, a soul-pop band from New York, and Grammy award-winner Jon Bellion to celebrate the last day of class.
This year’s Wolfstock concert offered a plethora of stressed students the chance to unwind with popular rap artist Jon Bellion and jazzy opener Lawrence. Prior to the concert, the last day of class celebration featured free food, brightly colored inflatable games and a variety of outdoor exercise classes.
The concert opened at 7 p.m. on Stafford Commons with a rousing performance by R&B New York duo, Lawrence.
“Both lead singers had crazy vocals,” said Bash Morray, an attendant from Apex, North Carolina. “Lawrence, the girl, she could go really high and I just loved that. It was a good performance.”
The group performed around a dozen songs, including a cover of Nelly’s “Hot in Here,” before turning the stage over to Bellion.
The crowd bounced, grooved and sang along to Bellion, who opened with his song “He is the Same.” The crowd stretched nearly all the way to Wolf Plaza, with the back half of the crowd laying out on blankets while the front half packed in tight to catch every moment of the rapper’s high-energy performance.
“We get the word out by making graphics, and we work in conjunction with UAB,” said Josh Stone, an office assistant at New Student Programs. “Mainly our job is to get the word out. We bring in a lot of great artists, and the concert is one of the biggest events throughout the year.”
Wolfstock has long been a crowd favorite, featuring artists like American Authors, Boyce Avenue, and Dan + Shay in years past. Each year the Union Activities Board works alongside New Student Programs to make the pre-exam week festival possible. Jordan Williams, UAB’s concert and entertainment vice chair, is one of the many people who helped plan the event from an early date.
“We started in November/December,” said Williams, a junior studying communication. “We had to get contracts and everything, but Jon Bellion worked really well. The next process was getting the opener. That was the hardest part because they were hard to find.”
Williams notes his satisfaction with both Wolfstock and LDOC as a whole.
“We had country music last year, so we decided to get pop music this year,” Williams said. “I think we have been getting better and better every year, and that’s our goal. To keep enhancing LDOC every year.”
Bathed in orange and purple light, Bellion performed his hit song “All Time Low.” During his performance of Guillotine, Bellion threw up a wolfy and had the crowd do the same throughout the performance. The rapper played until 9:20 p.m., ending the night with “Hand of God.”
Bellion said the performance was the biggest show he’d done in years and the most “lit” show he had ever done.