Surrounded by fog and bathed in pink and blue lights, Charli XCX danced onto stage at the Union Board’s Block Party concert in front of a jumping and screaming crowd Saturday night.
The concert in the Green Lot north of Assembly Hall was attended by mostly freshmen and sophomores as one of the last events of Welcome Week.
Charli XCX headlined the event, which started just after 10 p.m. and also featured artist Alex Banin and local band Manic Pixie.
She sang several of her hits such as “Boys” and “I Love It” in addition to an unreleased song. She ended the night with the hit single “Boom Clap,” which was featured in the 2014 film, “The Fault In Our Stars.”
“Thank you so much, Indiana,” Charli XCX said to the crowd. “You’ve been amazing.”
Sophomore Charlotte Herz said her favorite part of the performance was when Charli XCX interacted with the crowd. The artist asked the audience to dance along with her, put their hands up and wave their phone flashlights at various moments during the show.
“I just love Charli XCX,” Herz said.
Manic Pixie took the stage first. The Bloomington-based girl band played covers like “Bags” by Clairo as well as original songs.
Manic Pixie, which satirizes the “manic pixie dream girl” trope found in media, celebrated femininity and empowerment in many of their lyrics.
Rising R&B and pop artist Alex Banin performed next. Based in Chicago, Banin has over 14,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Banin sang from her most recent EP “Did I Imagine.”
“This is my first show after COVID,” Banin said. “It’s good to be back out.”
Many sophomores at the concert missed out on in-person welcome events last fall and several underclassmen said they went to the concert to socialize and make new friends.
Sophomore Emma Bartolo said the Block Party was the first event of Welcome Week she has attended, and it was a fun event overall.
“I thought all the performers had very good energy,” Bartolo said.
Sophomore Zachary Lin said he wanted to take advantage of meeting new people at the concert and throughout this year’s Welcome Week.
“Lot of life brought back to campus compared to last year,” Lin said. “It’s good to see a lot of people being involved.”
