The Hawk

Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: News

Lupe Fiasco's performance was solid despite earlier controversy.

On Thursday night at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, during the Spring Concert, singer Trey Songz left the stage during his performance. According to Stacey Sottung, assistant director for Campus Programs, this is because he felt threatened by a male fan standing in front of the stage. Trey's bodyguard escorted the singer and the fan out the entrance onto 54th Street. Trey did not return to finish his performance, which was first stopped due to technical problems with his DJ's sound system. According to Philadelphia Police's 19th District, no police report has been filed as a result of the altercation.

Early on in Trey's performance, his DJ's sound system broke - the facilities provided by the university were not responsible for the malfunction. While his DJ worked to fix the problem, Trey adlibbed and brought a female from the floor up to the stage to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. During the time when Trey's sound system was not working, Saint Joseph's students reported that many fans in the front were shooting rubber bands onto the stage and throwing small pieces of paper at Songz.

According to Sean Morntahen,'11, before Songz left the stage for a second time, he asked who in the audience was throwing things at him, and a male student raised his hand. This was when Trey left the stage, went to his bodyguard, and then the body guard escorted both parties outside. Chris Mayer, '11, was standing near the stage barrier and saw the bodyguard grab the male's arm. He could hear arguing and yelling while the three were outside the Fieldhouse from Trey's microphone.

Both witnesses did not see any punches thrown or anything suggesting a physical altercation.

A freshman female sociology major told The Hawk that Songz started arguing with his manager and that it was his manager and the bodyguard who held him back from approaching the male student.

Stacey Sottung, assistant director for campus programs, talked to Songz's manager and was told as Trey was leaving the venue that he would not return to the stage because he felt threatened and had technical problems with his equipment. Sottung did not comment about the male student aiming rubber bands at the stage.

Security for the concert was provided by SEC, the same security company used for university basketball games. Twenty-five guards were present for the event.

There were 1,713 people in attendance at the concert. Sottung noted that the large numbers show the students were happy with the selection of performers. Sottung also noted that the committee learned more about procedure when serving a larger number of students attending a concert.

The first 1,000 students received silver wristbands that gave them access to the floor. Most students with the silver wristbands, however, did not want to stand but instead took balcony seats. The students who came later to the concert did not have a choice of where to see the concert; the balcony was their only option. When walking to the balcony, there were no available seats.

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