“We gonna make you lose your mind”—Redfoo of LMFAO is set to party rock this year’s Last Day of Classes celebration.
In addition to DJ and rapper Redfoo, the lineup includes mashup artist 3LAU, Swedish singer and songwriter Basshunter and hip-hop artist Macklemore. The LDOC committee, co-chaired by senior Nate French and sophomore Jacob Robinson, announced the lineup via text message at midnight Thursday.
“The lineup has a lot of high energy artists with dance and kind of electronic vibes,” French said. “The number one thing about this lineup is everyone is just a great live performer.”
Electronic-rap duo LMFAO will only feature Redfoo this April because his partner SkyBlu received a back injury in December, limiting his ability to perform. Redfoo, however, will still perform all of the duo’s major hits, including “Party Rock Anthem,” “Sexy and I Know It” and “Shots.” Redfoo will also be accompanied by LMFAO’s internationally acclaimed dance group Party Rock Crew.
For the first time this year, DUU oversaw the LDOC committee, which was previously an independent group funded primarily by student activities fees. The committee’s merge with DUU has streamlined the planning process, though the selection process for choosing artists has remained the same, French said.
The committee made a point to select members with diverse musical interests, French said. The committee was supportive of every artist on the lineup, which was narrowed down from a list of more than 1,000 potential acts. The committee also considered students’ preferences about LDOC performers through a survey sent out to the student body in October, which received about 2,100 responses.
“If the [artist] names are names [students] don’t know or aren’t excited about, we want them to know this is going to a be one of the most high energy concerts they go to,” said junior Ashley Alman, marketing co-chair of the LDOC committee.
3LAU is a 21-year-old self-proclaimed house/bootleg/remix producer that began producing in 2011 while studying finance at Washington University in St. Louis. According to his website, 3LAU combines his producing and singing talents to penetrate the emerging genre of post-progressive house. Basshunter is a Swedish dance artist that debuted in 2006 and topped iTunes charts in 2008 and 2009. According to his website, Basshunter is the biggest commercial dance artist in the world right now. French noted that Basshunter is a throwback, evoking a sense of nostalgia from students, French said. Macklemore, an emerging hip-hop and rap artist, is known for poignant lyrics that address social issues.
Eric Sneedon, adviser for the LDOC committee and program coordinator for the Office of Student Activities and Facilities, did not reply to several requests from The Chronicle for interviews with the artists’ agents.
3LAU also incorporates LMFAO tracks into some of his mashups. French said he hopes that having 3LAU as the opener will excite students for the rest of the concert. Student response after the midnight release Friday morning ranged from excited to ambivalent and otherwise.
“Finally some electronic music will be at LDOC,” junior Aum Dasani said. “Basshunter is great—I’m wondering why it’s only half of LMFAO.”
Senior David Mayer said he was a bit underwhelmed.
“I don’t know.... Basshunter I can tell you really only has one song that people know,” Mayer said. “I’ve never heard anything from Macklemore and just one guy from LMFAO and not even the whole group.”
The LDOC committee makes an effort to bring artists on the rise before they “blow up” French said, citing Kanye West, who performed at LDOC in 2004, as an example of an artist who came to Duke before reaching international acclaim.
The committee declined to comment on the budget for the event. The committee did not release last year’s budget, though The Chronicle reported in April 2011 that the 2010 LDOC committee received $100,000 per year from student activities fees and an additional $15,000 to $25,000 from DUU and the now-defunct Campus Council.
Regarding this year’s theme, the committee drew from 2012’s association with the ending of the world, dubbing the event LDOCalypse. In preparation, the LDOC committee is holding a T-shirt design competition, finding vendors and booths to give the event a festival-like feel and working out safety policies with administrators.
Continuing the policy put in place in 2010, the festivities will be closed to non-Duke visitors to preserve both safety and tradition, French said.
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