Roundtable: What is the UCONNIC you would’ve liked to see?

On March 24, the artists set to perform at the 2025 UCONNIC music festival were revealed to the student body. The annual show hosted by the Student Union Board of Governors will feature local DJs ONNAME and NL, Nashville-based alternative rock band Edgehill, Connecticut-based rapper Saby, R&B singer Raveena and the headlining artist, Ross Lynch’s The Drivers Era.  

UCONNIC, has long been a very contentious topic for the student body, as in recent years the high student expectations for who will perform have been difficult to satisfy. Last year, there was significant controversy following the announcement of Swae Lee as a headliner, with many complaining about a lack of real voice in the decision-making process. This year’s release faced much of the same reaction, with 159 comments under the Instagram announcement post (as of the drafting of this article) being overwhelmingly negative about the lineup.  

So, for this roundtable, the writers of the Opinion Section weigh in the controversy and look to answer the question: What was your biggest takeaway from the UCONNIC lineup announcement?  

Tomas Hinckley, Opinion Editor:  

First, why does the lineup have six acts? This is too many. You either attract an audience because of local interest or big name recognition. The majority of these artists fail to do either of those things, as they aren’t famous enough for a majority of people to recognize their quality through name alone but also aren’t connected to UConn enough to have this community be familiar with them. Even Ross Lynch, the biggest name on the ticket, is only known because he’s an old Disney star; no one knows him for his music. Instead of getting a bunch of mid-tier artists, a show of two really big artists and one to two Storrs locals would do better at attracting people.  

Plus, there is the issue of genre. The variation of style across these six acts is too wide. We have indie pop, R&B, basic club music, alt-rock and rap all in one show. No one is interested in all those genres. This will lead to people either 1) not paying for a $45 ticket to just see the one act they like or 2) leaving midway through the night. We need a more cohesive setlist which makes choices about what it is and isn’t. When you attempt to cover every genre of music in one night, you’re going to cover all of them poorly. 

Then, there needs to be a better job of choosing local acts. The current lineup seeks to attract local interest through two well-known UConn DJs and one CT rapper. Yet, these are ineffective choices to achieve that goal. DJs at UConn simply don’t attract people to see them, full stop. They play at bars and frats which are in themselves the attractor of people, with often these DJs just being an add-on. Plus, as some commenters pointed out, UCONNIC should be a special event, it loses the appeal if I can get the same experience any other weekend with a $10 cover at Ted’s. There was a huge opportunity to select popular UConn bands that are known to actually have a fanbase who will follow them, guaranteeing at least some people at this university would be happy with the event, but this completely missed that mark.  

Evelyn Pazan, Associate Opinion Editor: 

I will start this off by saying that I don’t think that the organizers of UCONNIC should be receiving the level of hate that they are. It is noble to express your opinion and advocate for change in the selection process, it is unacceptable to outright hate on students and staff who have worked to put this together. Rather, you could write for the Daily Campus instead, and put together a well thought out argument, which is more effective than an Instagram comment that lacks proper grammar and gets two likes.  

That being said, while bringing in The Driver Era is certainly a step up from Swae Lee, I am still disappointed by their inability to provide us with a performer of higher caliber. In the past years, UCONNIC (or the UConn Spring Concert, in past years) has managed to bring in incredibly talented artists. In 2018, there was Khalid, a rising R&B singer who was incredibly popular. In Spring 2004, UConn brought in Kanye West (maybe not the best choice now). Most recently, in 2022, there was Dominic Fike.  

Don’t get me wrong, I like The Driver Era, Ross Lynch and their music, but I just wish that the performer were a little bit closer to the fame level of the aforementioned performers. 

Patrick Minnerly, Weekly Columnist:  

I think this entire situation is summarized by the fact that I knew nothing about UCONNIC before seeing this announcement. Despite the clear play on “iconic” that UCONNIC is trying to achieve, it does not seem to have the gravity of other events that are sponsored by SUBOG. By contrast, SUBOG’s One Ton Sundae event is a huge deal at UConn and is always looked forward to.  

Beyond that, the lineup feels a bit lackluster.  I understand that The Driver Era is fairly well known, even though I’ve never heard of them personally. I also understand that there is no way to satisfy everyone, especially college kids who have a very wide range of what they consider to be good artists and good music, but there is also a way to satisfy no one, and that is what UCONNIC has pulled off here. No one set to appear in the concert has generated very much excitement, even the headliner, and the other acts have resulted in a consistent response of “Who?”. In other words, there is nothing to get people hyped up for the concert, especially for the price of $45.  

Raegan Skelly, Contributor: 

The only name on this lineup I recognize is The Driver Era, but I would say I know them very loosely. I’m unsure if I’ve ever heard a song of theirs, I’ve just seen the very viral snippets of Ross Lynch performing shirtless at their shows. I have no issue with them being on the lineup because I do think they, or at least Ross, are relatively well known. Although, I don’t think he is primarily known for this band, but instead his Disney projects or maybe even the previous Lynch-sibling band, R5, that I remember seeing during commercial breaks on the Disney Channel. From what I’ve heard, students last year were upset about the fame status of the headliner, so I think they were trying to overcompensate this year by picking someone who people know, even if he is not mainly known for The Driver Era music. 

Featured photo by Danny Howe