The crowd was sweaty, music vibrated through the crowd and excitement was undeniably electric at CSUN’s Library Lawn. On Saturday, Big Show returned with headliner Deorro, drawing hundreds of students for a night of EDM, community and campus pride.
Each year, CSUN’s Associated Students (AS) plan a live show on campus, including a line-up of billboard-charting artists, to celebrate the spring semester. CSUN’s largest student concert continues to build momentum following last year’s show with Steve Aoki.
According to AS event producer Alonna Eskandari, the event culminated six months of hard work, from picking the artist to finding sponsors and coordinating day-of logistics. The team included 10 students, a program manager and coordinators, with about 15 people working collectively to bring the event to life.
“I’m just excited for show time and everything to go down,” Eskandari said. “It’s been so many months of hard planning, so to see all the hard work pay off and the students enjoy it is so fulfilling.”
Set up for the event began on Thursday morning, taking approximately two full days to bring the large stage to life, which included soundcheck and set up for videos to play behind artists.
James Forrester, AS Program Manager who oversaw the event, helped support students by finding event sponsors like Premier America, Celsius and McDonald’s, which provided complimentary beverages to students throughout the afternoon.
According to Forrester, the choice for an EDM artist was based on the success of last year’s artist, Steve Aoki, and a survey asking the student body what music they gravitated towards.
“I think EDM has been popular for the past two years,” Forrester said. “I just think that’s where the students have kind of been, but I don’t think EDM is always going to be the answer.”
Aside from the headliner, the show’s openers included CSUN student artists DJ had0 and RYU. CSUN’s student-run record label, VOVE, secured a spot for their artist aziboh to perform. When he took the stage, students passionately danced, taking in the moment of each beat – even creating dance circles and cheering each other on.
“Students here at CSUN, we all know about the Big Show. And once we signed aziboh in the beginning of the fall semester, one of our main goals was to have them open at Big Show,” said Nicholas Colton, co-lead of marketing for VOVE.
The Big Show also allowed students not involved in campus life to see what resources and events are available. Of the over 35,000 students at CSUN, almost 95% of the student body are identified as commuters.
“I didn’t even know this was a thing, and I’ve been here for years, so I never go to any events. I don’t have the time. I just go to my classes and try to beat traffic, so I try to get home,” said Giancarlo Sandoval Robles, a senior at CSUN.
Robles attended the event with Wendy Rodriguez, a fellow commuter student who brought him along after a positive experience the year prior. Being a senior, Rodriguez also found the event to be one of her final opportunities to experience campus life.
As the main event began, students piled in. The crowd danced to the futuristic beats from Deorro, which had a Latin influence. Throughout his set, he threw out light-up roses and Mexican flags with his name printed in the middle.
Many of Deorro’s songs were in Spanish and heavily influenced by his Mexican heritage. CSUN students danced in unison, swaying back and forth. By the end of his set, students were drenched in sweat, and most faces were plastered in a smile.
“I didn’t get to be a part of this,” Deorro said, referring to college student life. “I had kids at a young age, had to get a job. But to be in this and for you guys to welcome me with open arms – It’s such an honor.”
