Up & Up Music Festival; UD Students Win National Competition
Lauren Durham
Contributing Writer
Music impacts people. Whether it be personal connections to the lyrics in a heart-wrenching Calum Scott song or good weekend vibes tied to the newest Travis Scott album, music shapes communities and celebrates individuality.
The most unifying event in the music industry may be music festivals. We’ve all seen our Instagram feeds flood with Coachella posts in April and Lollapalooza posts in August, and maybe you’ve even attended these high energy celebrations of music. In just a few short weeks, the University of Dayton will present its own music festival featuring the electronic dance music (EDM) group, Two Friends.
This highly anticipated event began with two Pi Kappa Phi brothers that share a deep appreciation for music. Senior, Drew Groth and Fifth-Year, Matt Mason entered the University of Dayton into Monster Energy’s Up & Up College Festival competition last spring and again this semester. The Up & Up College Festival is a national competition that grants universities a concert with an EDM group as the headlining act. The top five participating universities that sold the most pre-sale tickets earned their school the event, and UD proudly took the winning spot this fall.
Two Friends, this fall’s headliner, is a two man DJ group from Los Angeles, California. The duo went to high school together, and after going their separate ways, they found their way back to creating music with one another. They are known for their remixes of popular songs, such as “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers and “Otherside” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Last spring, UD came in fifth place in the Up&Up competition, losing the opportunity to host GRYFFIN by two spots. Groth and Mason were determined to come back stronger and secure a concert for UD students this fall.
Groth, a business operations major, and Mason, a business finance major, took advantage of their marketing knowledge and promoted Up & Up to the student body through what they believed set them apart from other schools–an Instagram page.
Mason shared, “We completely revamped the marketing for it [Up&Up]. There was so much room for improvement.”
With the additional support from Greek houses and other organizations on campus, the University of Dayton prevailed.
The competition between the rival universities added another level of excitement that motivated Groth and Mason. The creator of this event, San Jose State, was defeated for the first time by a school nearly a fourth of their size.
“We were such an underdog. We came out of nowhere,” shared Groth.
Groth and Mason are eager to see how this event impacts the students of UD.
“In bringing this concert, we’ll be starting a movement on this campus that could literally spread a genre of music throughout the student body, and that is something that has never happened before,” said Mason.
In addition, Groth and Mason are looking forward to the fun, yet safe atmosphere that Up & Up will provide for the community.
Mason elaborated, “This festival is empowering our student body be able to say we want to have a good time in a safe space in a safe area, and we can make it happen ourselves.”
The festival will take place on Nov. 2 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Levitt Pavilion in downtown Dayton. Although many students have already secured their admission into the event, additional tickets will be sold. To order tickets, visit the Up & Up Festival website or follow @twofriendsud on Instagram for more information.