Students at ETSU have gotten the reputation as being a little apathetic.
Of course, college students in general have an apathetic reputation, but at ETSU we didn’t even muster up the school spirit to vote to keep our football program.
I am not saying that I would’ve voted one way or the other, but the only voices of protest are the few letters to the editor with the words “bring football back.”
With this spirit of apathy in mind, it is surprising to see that Monday night, at least 200 people showed up for the concert featuring Fabolous and One Republic.
The number seems depressingly low, however, considering that these 200 or so people came and stayed through both concerts for hours in what One Republic’s singer/pianist/guitarist Ryan Tedder called, “arctic” weather.
“Do not have a concert in the cold, rainy weather,” Sherita McMullen said.
The concert almost did not happen because of the weather.
“There was a meeting whether or not to continue with the concert in the rain, but because of all of the people that showed up it happened,” said concert volunteer Adelaide Yoder.
I was excited to see that I was not the only person who came out and waited in the freezing rain/sleet to hear the two distinctly different groups play.
I say two because the opening act, Say You Will, who won the battle of the bands, did not grace us with their talents. They came and left without a performance.
“If I had won the battle of the bands and I had gotten up there and sang, they’d be like Fabolous who?” said Alan Prigmore.
There is one thing that the two acts have in common, despite their different musical styles.
Timbaland produced the hit “Make Me Better” for Fabolous. One Republic sprung into stardom after Timbaland was instrumental in their first hit “Apologize” last year.
Fabolous was lively in concert, and could be heard from the top floor of Warf-Pickel. He brought energy to the frozen crowd. Some people bobbed their heads in the typical I’m not sure how to appropriately dance to this music way that people do while others unapologetically jammed in the rain. Still, others had a good time just watching and giggling.
“I had a great time, it was a great concert, but they should’ve done it in the Dome,” said Chatara Finney.
One Republic interacted with the crowd between songs and certainly did not disappoint musically.
The band’s instrumental talent is obvious through their appealing rhythms and atypical, distinctive sounds. “I promise that this concert will go down in your memory bank as the single greatest concert you’ve ever been to – under 34 degrees,” said Tedder.

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