LDOC tweaks made based on past years' lessons

Students can look forward to seeing more advanced stage effects and better sound quality in the annual Last Day of Classes concert and festivities.

T-Pain will headline the evening's concert, which will also feature performances by Jeremih, MisterWives and Duke junior Spencer Bruno, who performs with the stage name Spencer Brown. Programming prior to the concert includes a barbecue in K-ville, food trucks, a Chapel climb and other activities on West Campus residential quads—such as morning yoga, a silent disco and spin art, to name a few.

“I think the biggest change that I’m most excited for besides our range of daytime activities is the stage effects,” said LDOC committee co-chair Anton Saleh, a sophomore. “We’re really enhancing the stage presence while the artists are up there and getting more people involved.”

Saleh said the committee looked at issues from LDOC 2014 and attempted to mitigate them. One of the main issues that people complained about from last year's Dillon Francis concert was poor speaker quality. This year, the LDOC committee collaborated with all the artists who will perform, particularly Brown, an electronic dance music artist, to ensure the speakers met their requirements.

Several students have expressed enthusiasm about the musical acts. Many said they appreciate the committee’s selection of a hip-hop artist as this year’s headliner, in comparison to last year's EDM artist Dillon Francis.

Junior Nick Andrade said he is excited for T-Pain and Jeremih because they are more similar to artists the event has brought in years past including B.O.B. and Steve Aoki.

“It’s going to be much, much better compared to last year because last year we didn’t have a true headliner,” Andrade said.

Sophomore Tara Bensal echoed his sentiment, noting that students are more likely to enjoy to the concert if the artist is more well-known.

In addition to improving stage effects for the concert, the 2015 committee has implemented other changes to the celebration, including doubling the number of masseuses on the Chapel quad and eliminating the bouncy house.

Another change from last year is that the committee decided not to open the LDOC T-shirt design to student submissions, as it has traditionally done.

Saleh noted that in past years many student-submitted shirt designs had logistical issues, such as copyright concerns with regards to the names of the artists on the back. Senior Alex Lark, who also helped with design in previous years, was asked by the 2015 committee to submit designs.

Despite the changes made this year, freshman Leah Goldman said that although she doesn’t know what to expect, she is looking forward to experiencing her first LDOC.

“I’m excited to see the atmosphere tomorrow and to see the student body come together to celebrate the last day of classes,” she said.

Saleh added that he and co-chair David Soled, also a sophomore, will look to the crowd’s response to the concert to gauge the success of this year's event.

“If we have people leaving and cheering who are satisfied with the concert and wanting an encore, I will know we did our job,” he said.

Students will have to use their DukeCard to gain access to the concert, and starting at noon Wednesday, all residence halls will be quad access only. Students attending the concert are also required to wear wristbands that will be available in the Bryan Center box office from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Spencer Bruno's real name was Spencer Brown, which is his stage name. The Chronicle regrets the error.