Although this year’s Juice Jam concert was held on Sept. 11, attendees of the event weren’t outspoken about the concert’s date falling on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that hit New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

Syracuse University’s eighth annual Juice Jam, which ran from roughly 4 to 8:45 p.m., featured co-headliners Swedish house-electronic artist Avicii and American rapper B.o.B. Chiddy Bang, a hip-hop duo from Philadelphia, opened the show with a 45-minute set at Skytop Field on South Campus.

Heather Corbett, a senior accounting and finance major, said that because Juice Jam was held on Sept. 11, it took away from the events being held at Hendricks Chapel to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Hendricks held a Service of Remembrance and Hope as part of SU Remembers, a series of events held to reflect on the anniversary.

But some students — such as Nicholas Valauri — brought their patriotism to the concert. Valauri, a junior mechanical engineering major, wore an American flag as a cape to mark the 10th anniversary.

‘I woke up this morning, and I thought I needed a flag to wear,’ Valauri said, noting that he thought holding Juice Jam on 9/11 was a good way to commemorate the 10th anniversary.

Melina Violas, a freshman finance major, said she wasn’t against holding the event on Sept. 11, but thought University Union could have done something more to mark the anniversary.

Shortly after Chiddy Bang finished up their set with the hit ‘Opposite of Adults,’ Student Association President Neal Casey led a brief moment of silence at about 4:50 p.m. He told the crowd that while it was fine to have a good time at the concert, it was important to remember Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 — a day when nearly 3,000 people lost their lives.

After the moment of silence, representatives from UU played audio of first lady Michelle Obama talking about the effects left from Sept. 11 and the importance surrounding the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

‘It’s a day to honor our heroes with thoughts and prayers,’ Obama said as more people filed in the gate to get ready for Avicii’s performance. Avicii played a set from about 5:05 to 7:10 p.m., with thousands of students packed between the stage and the food stand.

Although many weren’t thrilled with the concert being held on Sept. 11, some students applauded efforts to turn Juice Jam into a charity event.

UU conducted a food drive during the week, allowing students to donate canned goods for a Juice Jam T-shirt. The university also partnered with Better Together, a nationwide initiative that encourages students to increase interfaith and multicultural bonds in the United States to improve communities. From the approximately 7,000 tickets sold, around $30,000 will go toward famine relief in the Horn of Africa through the United Nations’ World Food Programme, said Rob Dekker, UU president.

Before the concert, UU had about a third of a box truck full of canned food, Dekker said. At about 7:30 p.m., Dekker told the audience that the truck — parked right outside the gate — was about full.

The ticket capacity for this year’s concert was raised to 8,500. Last year’s Juice Jam concert — featuring Lupe Fiasco, Super Mash Bros. and Passion Pit — had a ticket capacity of 5,000 and was the first to sell out in Juice Jam’s history.

Everything went smoothly at this year’s Juice Jam despite the higher number of attendees, Dekker said in a separate interview. He said the only problems he encountered at the concert were people attempting to sneak backstage.

‘Altogether, it’s been a great success,’ Dekker said.

By the time B.o.B was on the stage at 7:45 p.m., authorities had no issues to report from the concert.

Department of Public Safety Lt. Edward Weber said police had ‘no problems whatsoever’ controlling the crowd. The most significant incident, he said, was when a female student twisted her ankle and had to have it bandaged by SU Ambulance officials.

Weber said DPS officers checked the woods around Skytop Field and found no traces of students drinking or smoking illegal substances. DPS had about 10 officers at the event and the Syracuse Police Department had two officers at Juice Jam, Weber said. Twelve SU Ambulance officials were also at the concert.

‘I think this is a great celebration for this time,’ Weber said, adding that no students had approached him or his officers — who had been there since 3 p.m. — with concerns about the concert being held on Sept. 11.

As B.o.B finished up his performance at about 8:45 p.m., the rapper asked the crowd — although more than half of the audience had left by that point — to ‘make some noise’ for those people who lost their lives on Sept. 11.

Those left in attendance obliged and ended the night with a simple chant of ‘USA.’

jdharr04@syr.edu

Published on September 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu