Two distinct sounds blared from Stepan Center on Friday night as Cartel and Citizen Cope took the stage.
Cartel performed first followed by Citizen Cope at the Student Union Board (SUB) sponsored concert.
The atmosphere of the audience seemed to be dictated by the energy of the band performing. When Cartel was on stage, the crowd standing in front of the stage was more rowdy, energetically jumping up and down in tandem with the fast-paced strums of electric guitars.
The crowd's atmosphere changed dramatically when Citizen Cope took the stage as the audience took more to head-bobbing and foot-tapping rather than crowd surfing.
"The crowd for Cartel was definitely way more rambunctious. We go pushed around so much. Everyone was moshing," said freshman Caitlin Alli.
Freshman Andrew Bolka described Cartel's music as more "energetic" and "upbeat," while Citizen Cope's music was more "chill" and "laid back."
However, Bolka said that the audience was into both types of music and knew the words to the songs of both bands.
Bolka saw Cartel as having "the rock star image of playing onstage and being flashy," while he said Citizen Cope was "more about the music."
Cartel played songs from both of their albums, plus a cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall," which the crowd sang along with. They closed with their hit single "Honestly."
Citizen Cope played a versatile range of music, said Bolka, performing both with a band and without, with an electric guitar and then an acoustic guitar
The versatility of Citizen Cope's music is "genre breaking," said Bolka.
Towards the end of his performance, the one-man-act of Citizen Cope, Clarence Greenwood, and his band, left the stage, then came back out again to perform his encore solo. He ended with his hits "Son's Gonna Rise" and "Sideways."
Sophomore Dylan Fernandez, who was a bigger fan of Citizen Cope, said that seeing Greenwood perform was a good way to start the weekend.
"I really like the way my man Clarence grooves. He hits you in the face with a real chill vibe," said Fernandez.
Co-programmer of the concert and senior Clint Simkins said that SUB wanted to host a concert that would appeal to the majority of the student body.
"Having two different acts was the best way to do this," he said. "These two acts explore genres that are fairly separate, but maintain a common fan-base for the most part."
A major difference from past concerts is that the floor of Stepan Center was set up as standing room only with chairs on the sides. In the past, chairs have been placed throughout the main area in Stepan Center, said Simkins.
Alli liked this new set up because while the Stepan Center is spacious, it is also possible to get up close to the band.
"It's a big space so there's room to spread out but you can get pretty close to the stage," said Alli. "You are right there with the band."
Currently, SUB has no plans for another major concert at Stepan Center this year, but is planning two shows at Legends in the spring, said Casey McNeill, co-programmer of the concert.
