The Egyptian Theatre is usually a place where audiences sit back for classic films and live plays, but on Friday, rapper and songwriter Coi Leray had people on their feet, leaving the seats behind.
The doors, along with the concert, opened at 7 p.m. with DJ Vestus. The line to get in wrapped around the corner of N. Second Street and onto Lincoln Highway.
Once inside participants had an option of sitting on the first floor of the theater or in the mezzanine. As people filled the theater, nearly all seating on the first level had been occupied.
DJ Vestus’ set brought energy to the venue with well known hits like “Rich Baby Daddy,” “FE!N” and “Get It Sexyy.”
Fans crowded near the stage, moving in rhythm to the lyrics, while others filled the aisles while dancing and singing.
Taylor Harrell, a first-year nursing student, enjoyed DJ Vestus’ picks.
“The energy is 10/10. They’re (audience) hyped, the DJ got them hyped. The DJ’s playing all the right music,” she said.
As the room filled with cheers a screen reflecting the crowd was set up on the stage, capturing different groups dancing and waving to the camera.
Not long after a crew member told the crowd to take their phones out and turn their flash lights on all while pink lights emulated from the stage accompanied with a pink “Coi Leray” logo.
As flashlights glew, Leray stepped onto stage with “I Don’t Like,” the crowd eagerly singing with her.
After, she sang the first original of the night, “No More Parties,” followed by her viral song “TWINNEM,” which had the crowd singing along word for word after she prompted them to turn to their “day one” friend.
Each song flowed quickly into the next, Leray’s dance moves were interactive and confident. At one point, she pointed to audience members and reassured them they are OK.
Leray continued with “BIG PURR” during which visuals appeared on the screen behind her, showing fur-covered letters and red and pink cat eyes. The background shifted to green as she ended the song with a pose on a podium.
Throughout the concert, the audience participated in call-backs prompted by her DJ as he sang along with multiple tracks.
During and after “Act Like You Know,” Leray interacted with the audience and gave brief speeches about self-love.
“It’s important to look in the mirror every day and really tell yourself that, ‘oh, look, I love you,’” Leray said.
Journey Menendez, a junior communication media studies major, commented on the performance.
“I loved her motivational speeches and her look, she’s so beautiful,” Menendez said.
The performance concluded with “Players” as the audience sang along in sync to the viral hit.
The concert has been organized by the Campus Activities Board (CAB) since June, Kayla Reese is the trending chair for CAB this semester and was involved in the organization. She commented on the reason CAB picked Coi Leray as the performer this year.
“We felt that Coi Leray would have been very versatile, as she said in the concert. So we knew, like, we would have a little bit of everything here. That was our main thing,” Reese said.
Reese also commented on the energy of the concert.
“It was a lot of energy here. The students were very hyped. They were very excited, you can tell. And then Coi (Leray) herself was just, she had so much energy and she was ready to perform,” Reese said.
