Country music artists fill the spring concert lineup docket at Grand Valley State University for the first time in eight years.
The Fieldhouse Arena, located on Grand Valley State University’s Allendale campus, welcomed four artists on Saturday, April 6 for the University’s annual spring concert.
The show started with a performance by GVSU student and American Idol contestant Reette Thorns, moved into a set from Julia Cole who was followed by a performance by Mason Ramsey, (also known as the viral “Walmart yodeling kid”), and finally the main act, country star Lauren Alaina.
This group of singers represent the first country act to perform for the GV spring concerts since the pop/country duet Dan + Shay and openers Joel Crouse and Ryan Kinder performed in 2016. The Campus Activities Board (CAB) within the Office of Student Life at GVSU plans, organizes and puts together the entire show.
Reette Thorns won GVSU’s 2024 GV’s Got Talent, providing her with the opportunity to open for the spring concert. Thorns was featured on American Idol season 21 in March of 2023.
The crowd welcomed Thorns to the stage with lots of cheering, something that continued throughout the rest of the evening. Her first song was an original song she wrote for her mother, a woman who battles addiction. Emotions rose amidst encouragement from the crowd, which would continue for the rest of night. Thorns moved on to a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.” Flashlights waved in the air and students sang along with every word.
Julia Cole is a rising country star garnering the title of being a CMT Next Women of Country. She has had songs go viral on social media and uses her platform to help individuals find community and shared experience. Cole released her album “Country Sugar” in July of 2023, and recently released her EP “Life After You” on April 5, 2024.
Cole started performance set interacting with the crowd, setting the tone for the rest of her set. “What’s up Grand Valley? Y’all ready to party tonight?” Cole said as she entered the stage.
Cole’s set was met with wooing and cheering, and many students sang along with her as she covered Luke Combs’ song “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” Students continued to stream into the fieldhouse as she sang, the crowd growing in population and noise.
GVSU student and concert attendee Anna Wiegand said one of her favorite moments of the night was “when Julia Cole sang ‘Best Worst Ex Ever.’”
Mason Ramsey’s road to fame began in March of 2018 when he went viral for singing “Lovesick Blues” by Hank Williams in an Illinois Walmart. He dropped his “Famous” EP in 2018, with the title track going viral. Ramsey’s song “Twang,” off of his 2019 album “Twang,” brought him even more attention.
Ramsey was a clear fan favorite. Throughout Ramsey’s entire set the crowd went wild, starting from the moment he entered the stage. People were dancing and singing along throughout his entire set, namely when he sang his songs “Before I Knew It”, “Famous”, and “Twang.” He received outstanding cheers from the crowd for his rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds.” Ramsey even made an
appearance at the merch stand following his set to take pictures and sign autographs for students and fans.
GVSU senior Elyse Karasinski said, “meeting Mason Ramsey impromptu” was her favorite moment from the show. “I didn’t know that was going to happen,” Karasinski said.
The main act, Georgia’s own Lauren Alaina, released her first studio album “Wildflower” in 2011. Just like Thorns, Alaina was featured on American Idol. Alai
na placed runner-up on American Idol’s tenth season. The title track from Alaina’s 2017 album, “Road Less Traveled,” was her first number one song on the country charts. The singer has opened for country stars such as Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan and collaborated on songs with the likes of HARDY and Kane Brown.
Alaina’s set filled the crowd with energy. Students were singing and dancing along with her. At one point, she borrowed someone’s HARDY hat for a song, further interacting with the crowd.
She performed some crowd favorites like Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.’” Her rendition of her song “One Beer” with HARDY and Devin Dawson received a lot of attention for students and attendees.
Several students felt the choice of genre and singers for this year’s spring concert was shocking. Social media polls done by the Campus Activities Board as well as The Lanthorn revealed that most people in the campus community were not planning on attending.
Obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), the general spring concert budget from the Office of Student Life this year was projected to cost $92,000. This is $2,000 dollars more than the previous two years’ concert budgets for overall expenses.
However, the “artist fee” for last year’s spring concert headliner, rap artist T-Pain, was drastically higher than the amount allocated for this years’ spring concert. CAB paid $125,000 in artist fees for T-Pain’s spring concert in 2023. Lauren Alaina received $77,500 dollars in allocated artist fees, almost exactly the amount the University made in ticket sales from last year’s performance. 2022 concert headliner Yung Gravy received only $50,000 dollars allocated in artist fees.
This gap was due to CAB using reserve funds’ from the pandemic to pay for a larger artist to headline the concert.
“In 2023 CAB reserve funds unspent over the pandemic provided the opportunity to support a bigger name artist but this was atypical due to normal budget limitations,” according to The Lanthorn’s official FOIA results.
DK Security costs nearly doubled to $4,200 dollars and “Event Support” for set up and tear down costs rose from $330 dollars to $1,800 dollars, an increase over five times as much as the previous year. It is important to note general inflation impacting costs, as well as improvements made based on student feedback, like the additional LED screen broadcasting a live video stream to increase visibility for guests.
Of those who came to the show, some were pleasantly surprised and became new fans.
“She had a really good vibe. She really knows how to entertain a crowd,” said recent GVSU graduate Elizabeth Hovest. “I knew who she was, I just didn’t actively listen to her music so I know her big hits. But I’m very impressed. She was really nice.”
