Josh Barber

Going into this, I knew B.o.B. was a rapper. I even knew that he made “Airplanes,” the song I had my first slow dance to. It was an awkward dance — partially because it’s not a very appropriate slow dancing song and partially because I kept stepping on the guy’s feet. Nonetheless, I have good memories attached to that song.

The major artist at this year’s SpringFest, B.o.B. performed at Gordon Field House Saturday, April 28 to a lukewarm reception.

My friends and I arrived 40 minutes before they opened the doors, and we waited in the chilly weather with about 50 other people. Time went by slowly as our extremities gradually froze.

Once the door opened, there was an aura of excitement. For the next hour and a half, the crowd hummed quietly with a few conversations amongst those taking a break from checking Facebook on their phones. Eventually the preshow began with performer Playboy Tre, a member of B.o.B.’s production/rap group Ham Squad. Playboy Tre, who has been featured in some of B.o.B.’s songs, including “Bet I,” performed some of his own work and attempted to get the crowd’s energy up. He flirted with a girl in the front row between songs and at one point he did a short cover of LMFAO’s “Shots,” which drew a positive reaction from the crowd. By the end of his performance, he managed to garner a bit of enthusiasm from the audience.

Five minutes later, DJs, backup singers, guitarists and a drummer began to file on stage. Finally, after a great deal of cheering and applause, B.o.B. arrived in a baseball cap and baggy pants. He captured the crowd’s attention within seconds, dancing around the stage. He was joined on stage on multiple occasions by scantily clad dancers in bejeweled bras. He also made sure to display his wide range of musical talent by playing the guitar and the keyboard during a few different songs such as “Don’t Let Me Fall” and “I’ll be in the Sky.” However, despite these attempts at making the show exciting, the audience quickly lost interest.

Josh Barber

By that time, B.o.B. had already performed “Magic” and “Beautiful Girls,” two of the songs that the majority of the audience actually knew. In addition to the slightly repetitive lyrics, the DJ kept reminding the audience that B.o.B.’s new album “Strange Clouds” was coming out Tuesday, May 1 after every song.

Despite the DJ’s comments on what a wonderful audience we were for our half-hearted cheers, the crowd had lost its enthusiasm. B.o.B. also was losing enthusiasm and stopped dancing around the stage with the same energy he had shown at the beginning. At the show’s lowest point, B.o.B. expected the audience to know some of the lyrics to one of his lesser-known songs and to sing along; instead, he was met with silence.

Then, what seemed to be just in the nick of time, he performed “Airplanes.” It was so widely anticipated that the audience gave a roaring response at the opening piano chords.

B.o.B. then performed one more song and left the stage. The audience seemed to be taken aback by his sudden exit and it took a few minutes for them to start chanting for an encore. Despite the crowd’s delay, B.o.B. seemed to have an encore already planned. After a quick performance of “Strange Clouds” and another reminder about the album, B.o.B. made a swift exit. The audience quickly followed suit.

As my friends and I left the Field House feeling slightly disappointed, we saw an empty couch positioned outside one of the windows of the Field House looking in. Looking back, it seems like whoever sat there had the better idea.