UCONNIC 2023 takes a turn after guests rush to the floor during Flipp Dinero’s performance 

On Friday, April 7, the UCONNIC Music Festival was held at Gampel Pavilion. The festival included University of Connecticut student, ONNAME, who was the DJ for the night. Opening act JR SPECS began the show, followed by Wavy McGrady, Similar Kind, Flipp Dinero and headlining act Trippie Redd; the festival also provided a few outdoor activities for guests.  

At the start of the event, an employee announced that around 5300 people attended the festival. Video montages of past UCONNIC festivals preceded each artist’s setlist. The opening act, JR SPECS, was excited to be back at UConn to perform and had musical guest Dre Wave$ on stage with him. You can find JR SPECS’ most recent singles “Cricket Poem” and “Witch Doctor” on his Spotify page. 

When Flipp Dinero came on stage, the audience became ecstatic. About 15 minutes into his performance, guests who had upper-level seats were seen suddenly rushing to the floor. It appeared employees did not stop them. After a few minutes, the lights in Gampel Pavilion turned on which left Flipp Dinero and guests confused. Flipp Dinero and the crowd heard were chanting “turn them off,” referring to the lights. An employee came up on stage and said those who did not have floor wristbands must return to their seats. Staff was seen going through each member of the crowd to ensure they had floor wristbands. After about 15 minutes, Flipp Dinero was allowed to resume his performance.  

“I wanna turn up with y’all, if you don’t belong on the floor go back so we can keep going,” said Flipp Dinero then jokingly concluded, “unless they don’t catch you.” 

Flipp Dinero’s music combines various elements of music such as rapping, hip-hop and R&B. His single, “Leave Me Alone” gained popularity instantaneously and became widely known, according to Flipp Dinero’s Spotify bio. 

Guests were eagerly waiting in anticipation for Trippie Redd. Trippie Redd made it on time at his scheduled performance at 10 p.m. Trippie Redd performed crowd favorites such as “Miss The Rage” and “The Grinch.” Guests excitedly were dancing and jumping around like carefree children bouncing off the walls from a sugar rush.  

“It was an amazing experience. After they turned the lights back off, the energy was amazing. All the artists sounded so good and had so much energy,” said Vivan Chavez, a second-semester UConn psychological sciences major. 

“It was an amazing experience. After they turned the lights back off, the energy was amazing. All the artists sounded so good and had so much energy,”

Vivan Chavez, a second-semester UConn psychological sciences major.

Marcel Wolanin, also known as Kightek, was at the north entrance of Gampel where guests could watch him create a detailed mural of Trippie Redd. Wolanin said he started the mural at 2:30 a.m. and had not taken any breaks since then. Wolanin said he was not supposed to paint the mural at Gampel, he wanted to have the piece done before the festival. 

The outdoor portion of UCONNIC advertised on their Instagram that it would include “amazing attractions” along with food trucks and vendors, but a few of the advertised attractions were missing. The Meltdown, an eight-player inflatable game where players jump or duck to avoid two rotating arms, was not inflated during the festival. Connect 4 Basketball was missing as well.  

While some attractions were missing, people enjoyed the 360 Photo Booth with their friends and the vintage UConn merchandise was a big hit among guests. Food truck vendors included Greekin’ Out, Lizzie’s Curbside, UConn Dairy Bar and Kona Ice. Whey Station was replaced by Teriyaki Mania. SUBOG held a table where students could participate in a raffle to win different prizes.  

UCONNIC 2023 had its pros and cons, it was a memorable music event but it lacked activities for students to partake in. Regardless, students should not miss out on UCONNIC as it is a unique college experience. If you missed UCONNIC this year, you can keep tabs on UCONNIC’s Instagram page for future updates.