Quad-A-Palooza: A Review
Photo by Daniel Carson
On the very warm and beautiful afternoon of Friday Sept. 25, University Union hosted the event that would replace the bereaved and beloved Juice Jam. Juice Jam and its “indefinite hiatus” has caused quite a stir in the Syracuse University community, as many students looked forward to hearing their favorite artists live. But―and it may be because I’m a freshman―I’m not too terribly disappointed with Quad-A-Palooza.
Because I never experienced the epic highs and lows of Juice Jam, I cannot properly mourn its loss, but I enjoyed hearing the music sets from Campus DJs―my favorite being Body Glitter’s. Although I had a decent time, every corner I turned, someone was complaining about how quiet the music was, how long this and that line is or something else entirely.
“It’s only 3:45, and they already ran out of popcorn,” a student said.
I don’t even think the music volume was the elephant in the room to be addressed. I think people were too scared to let loose! It was like there was an unspoken law that you were not allowed to have a fun time because people are so upset about the loss of Juice Jam. Nobody was dancing to Body Glitter’s awesome set except me, and it almost killed my vibes. I probably looked crazy.
I also think that the event could have been better organized. For example, at the Build-a-Bear assembly station, there were people who took more than one stuffed animal or hogged the stuffing station, and it was honestly so annoying. All the stuffed animals were gone within the hour. On top of it all, there was a litter of stray fuzz on the lawn after all the students raided the table.
“Once you’ve seen it all, it’s done. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it’s a little underwhelming,” freshman Sophia Cucinotti said.
Though the event offered many free items―my favorites being the Build-a-Bear stuffed animals, spray tattoos and kettle corn―I feel like the name “Quad-A-Palooza” totally mischaracterizes the event. Lalapalooza is about the music, but the focus of University Union’s event was all the free stuff they could dish out as penance for throwing Juice Jam on hiatus.
“I’m hoping that the decrease in budget for this goes to a better block party,” student Amaya Denson said.
Although Quad-A-Palooza reminded me of every other event we’ve held on the quad―welcome week, game day activities, etc.―I think we, as a student population, take for granted the many opportunities offered here on campus. It’s great that we’re highlighting aspiring student DJs and absorbing vitamin D in ways that aren’t just from vitamins. This is only the first year of Quad-A-Palooza, and University Union is working hard to improvise through the budget cuts. Just because Juice Jam is now a distant memory, doesn’t mean there aren’t many other events to look forward to in the future.