Far East Movement to Headline Yardfest

Marking the second time in a row that three artists will perform at Yardfest, Far East Movement, The White Panda, and Sam Adams will play at the spring College-wide concert on April 17, the College Events Board and the Harvard College Concert Commission announced last night.

Far East Movement, a four-man hip-hop group, is best known for 2010’s “Like a G6,” which has topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. White Panda, the mashup team of Tom Evans and Dan Griffith, has previously toured with last year’s Yardfest artist Wale and 2011’s third artist Sam Adams. Adams, a 21-year-old Massachusetts native who has opened for the Ying Yang Twins, is a rapper known for his mixing of hip-hop and electronica.

“It will be a really exciting and energetic show that the student body will really enjoy,” said CEB vice-chair Randa S. Dreznick ’12. While in past years the concert has been held in Tercentenary Theatre, Dreznick said that this year’s location has not been confirmed yet.

Organizers anticipate higher attendance at this year’s concert because April 17 overlaps with “Visitas”—the visiting weekend for high school students who have been offered admission to the College. This, however, was not intentional. According to CEB chair Crystal Y. Coser ’12, the date of Yardfest is dependent on what date works best for the artists that would be most satisfying for the student body.

And the excitement surrounding visiting students can be an “added bonus,” Yardfest co-chair Spenser R. Goodman ’14 said. “It’s going to pump up the atmosphere because there will be more people here,” he added.

The artists for the sixth annual concert were chosen, in part, based on a survey about potential genres for Yardfest artists sent to undergraduates this fall. According to Goodman, the results indicated an overwhelming demand for Top 40 and hip-hop music.

“The three artists really complement each other in terms of their genre,” Dreznick said.

They were chosen by a subcommittee of the two sponsoring organizations, according to Fellow for Student Life Andrés Castro Samayoa ’10, who serves as the adviser to the CEB and the subcommittee. Organizers began discussing the concert in November and narrowed down the artists in December, according to Goodman. They entered the contract phase about a month ago and finished signing contracts yesterday.

Coser said that she thinks the CEB did particularly well in choosing headliners given the budgetary and scheduling constraints of Yardfest.

Far East Movement spent two weeks touring with Rihanna earlier this month. This spring, The White Panda will also play at Virginia Tech, Lafayette College, and the University of Alabama.

—Staff writer Stephanie B. Garlock can be reached at sgarlock@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Monika L. S. Robbins can be reached at mrobbins@college.harvard.edu.