Sajila Nudrat | Health Editor
Featured image courtesy of Ryan “Ry Ones”
In a long-running tradition here at York, YorkFest’s welcome week has aimed to provide students with various opportunities to familiarize themselves with the campus, their peers, and members of the community. From events such as a smoothie breakfast, Disney karaoke, and casino night, to name a few, the YFS was determined to provide students with an unforgettable welcome week. Unfortunately for them, the last week of September was just another week, which ended with a lackluster concert.
Like most years, YorkFest includes a free welcome back concert for all York students. This year, YFS partook in a three-day reveal on Instagram to announce their headliner; Machel Montano, a renowned Soca artist whose career has spanned over 30 years. Often referred to as the “King of Soca,” the genre itself originated in the early 1970s within a marginalized subculture in Trinidad and Tobago. Montano, a native Trinidadian, is known for songs such as “Too Young To Soca,” “Party Done,” “Take It Slow,” and “It’s Carnival”.
Although he may be relatively unknown in Canada, Montano’s ties to upbeat and fast Soca that fuels carnival celebrations worldwide has made him many famous friends. Rihanna invited him to perform “Bitch Better Have My Money” in her native country Barbados. He also appeared in Nicki Minaj’s Trinidad-set “Pound the Alarm” video. Drake even booked the 43-year-old Soca artist to headline his annual OVO Fest in Toronto, two years ago. Montano has played five sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden (most recently in 2011), and even taken the genre to the White House (twice during the Obama administration). He’s dedicated to expanding Soca, and brought a taste of it to North York.
The concert itself was given a 7 to 11 p.m. time slot at the Aviva Tennis Centre, and doors opened at 5:30 p.m. Before the show began, the Confederation of Students (CFS) handed out consent leaflets that decorated the floors of Aviva. In the dim lighting where it was difficult to see the person next to you, it was virtually impossible to see the bold phrase “consent is mandatory.” A shame, because in a school that is perceived to be a sexual assault hub, the conversation of consent is much needed.
Before Montano was set to take the stage, the DJ tried his best to hype up the crowd or at least maintain their interest through a variety of songs. None, however were pertaining to the headlining artist. Instead the crowd (or at least the resemblance of a crowd) could be found passionately singing along to Drake, Kanye West (or as he now prefers ‘Ye’), Cardi B, Bobby Shmurda (who is still incarcerated), and Tory Lanez (last year’s headlining act who left York with only one shoe).
There was a steady influx of students throughout the night. The lineups weren’t very long and by 6:20 p.m. there was a cluster of people in front of the stage, but the rest of the building was relatively empty. This was in stark contrast to 2015’s headlining artist, Big Sean, who tweeted about the 8,000 or so students who were unable to get in due to maximum capacity at the Aviva Centre. Still, for some it was an entirely new experience.
Eman Imra, a first-year design student, talked about Montano being her first ever concert experience. “We came around 4:40 p.m. and we had been waiting a while so we could get to the front row. We got in at 5:30 p.m.” When asked about her familiarity with the artist and his work, Imran responded, “personally, I haven’t heard him before, but my friends have, so I’m here on their recommendations.” Imran did speak about her discomfort during the lineup before entrance into the venue, referring to the lack of organization. “The lines should be better because people keep bumping into each other, guys keep nudging you and it’s cramped. The spacing should be better.” However, she didn’t let that spoil her mood, “I hope it’ll be fun”.
While students lined up waiting for entry, there were a number of lines allocated to maintain a sense of organization. Students aged 19 and over got a green wristband, which gave them access to the beer garden, giving them something to do before an actual artist took centre stage. However, not all were disheartened by the long wait; some were actually quite excited to see Montano on stage. “I know the artist, and he’s pretty good. He has a lot of big hits. It’s my first concert at York and my experience has been really good so far, it’s a lot better than people made it seem,” said a first-year student who wishes to remain anonymous.
Pranavan Kandasamy, a fourth-year health studies student, and long-term fan expressed his excitement in seeing Montano. “I was suppose to go to his show last month but it got cancelled, so I’m glad he’s here now. I’ve been listening to his music for four years and my favourite song is ‘Party Done.’”
Montano might have been YFS’ big surprise this year, but there’s always more than meets the eye with our student union. Alejandra Tobar, a volunteer with YFS talked about her experience with a past YorkFest concert compared to this year’s. “I went to Alessia Cara’s concert two years ago, but it was a lot different. There’s more people here, and the atmosphere is more hype. It’s also a different experience because now I’m not just a student but I’m part of YFS.” Tobar also dropped a subtle shocker when she revealed that Montano was a last minute addition. “It was originally supposed to be A$AP Rocky but he cancelled last minute.” Looking at the crowd, it’s easy to see a lack of response from the York community when it comes to concert excursions. The center was barely half full; a scene that probably would have been dramatically different, had YFS been able to land A$AP Rocky. In an ironic turn of events, Rocky was in fact suppose to headline in 2013, however, after being accused of sexual assault, his performance was cancelled. It looks as if things do come full circle.
In an interesting turn of events, around an hour into the DJ’s setlist, students were beginning to lose interest and one individual started to vape. He was quickly shut down by security and the local police. The shock on his face when the security guard told him that he was not in fact allowed to vape in the building was more entertaining than anything else that happened in the 15 minutes prior. Around 7 p.m., through the open doors to the beer garden, the subtle smell of marijuana and tobacco smoke was beginning to waft in. Finally around 8 p.m. the opening act, Lissa Monet, took to the stage. Montano came out around 9 p.m.
Montano gave an energetic performance, and although the crowd seemed scarce compared to other YorkFest concerts, the audience was in to it. He managed to turn a plethora of tired and stressed students into a bunch of ecstatic flag-wavers for the night.
However, not all were feeling the love for Machel Montano. When asked why he didn’t attend, Umar Azmi, a second-year psychology student replied: “I don’t know who he is. I went to the concert last year with my friends, even though I didn’t know Tory Lanez all that well because my friends were going and they listened to him. It was fun. It was also my Frosh year, so I wanted to experience the full thing. It was energetic but he only performed for 15 minutes which was pretty lame, the other hour was just the DJ. This year my friends didn’t go so I didn’t go.”
Carlo Dizon, a first-year earth and atmospheric science student didn’t attend because of a lack of advertising on the part of YFS. “I didn’t even know about it. They should have used flyers and if they did I didn’t see them. It wasn’t advertised well.” When asked if they attended the concert, a handful of students echoed the sentiments of both Azmi and Dizon; a combination of a lack of familiarity with the artist and advertising could be to blame.
Brianna Christopher, a second-year political science student, had a different opinion. “I’ve been listening to him since I was five. A lot of people didn’t know him, but I grew up with him since I was a kid. My mom used to live in Trinidad and she was obsessed with him, she’s known him since he was a baby. I’m Carribean and I grew up listening to his music, It was so fun. I pretty much liked everything. He was really good.”
When asked about the organization of the event and the crowd, Christopher responded: “The lineup ran smoothly, when we got there, there was no lineup. The crowd was pretty wild, there was twerking, humping, and grinding. The crowd was pretty much Caribbean and African people. Everything was controlled and it was good. There was a lot of security, and it smelled a little like weed.
Montano himself performed for an hour and a half, playing a number of crowd favourites including, “Soca Kingdom,” “Party Done,” “Take It Slow,” and “Mr Fete”.
Ryan, the creative mind behind ‘Ry Ones’, is a Toronto-based freelance photographer who covered the concert and had a lot to say from a volunteer perspective. “As a volunteer photographer, this was my first time being at York. While I wasn’t present at the previous year’s concert, I did hear exceptional feedback from the student body through my personal friends and by seeing posts across different social media networks. Everybody seemed to be satisfied and the event could not have been executed better.”
Ryan commented on his overall experience at the concert as being one of his most memorable. “I’ve taken photos at a couple universities, and this was my first experience at York. I would have to say that YorkFest 2018 was definitely one of the best executed concerts I’ve shot. From the venue choice, to the artist’s performance and even the readily available medical/security services, everything was top quality. The opening DJ’s and MC’s also did an exceptional job keeping everybody hyped that night.”
When asked why he attended the concert, Ryan discussed his focus on music and visual art. “I’ve always had a passion for music long before I developed one for visual art, and just being able to tie the two together is a dope feeling for me. I’ve been listening to Machel Montano for a while now, so being able to capture him doing what he does is an amazing opportunity. I was excited that the opportunity to shoot Montano came my way, simply because of the significance he holds in not only music, but in culture itself. I’ve studied the influence that the Caribbean has on the rest of the world and as a photographer, being able to capture somebody actively involved in that is a very fulfilling feeling.”
He had no complaints about the crowd and in fact enjoyed his night immensely. “As I looked into the crowd, I noticed seeing a lot of people of different ethnicities having a good time, dancing, waving their colourful flags and one thing came to mind – unity. This event brought together all kinds of people from countries around the world. The power of music, and the feel-good energy of soca is truly a beautiful thing to see.”
For some, this YorkFest concert will be one to remember, but for many others, it’ll become just another vague memory.
