 "Photo: Matt Mitgang | Student Life")
 "Photo: Matt Mitgang | Student Life")
For a performance as large as W.I.L.D., many different production elements must come together to produce a successful show.
And this year’s fall W.I.L.D. performance on Saturday may have been the most successful production yet, according to officials with Team 31 Productions.
“It went as smoothly as I could have hoped for, probably the smoothest we’ve ever seen,” said junior and Team 31 co-chair Jordan Roberts.
“I think it was amazing,” junior Dione Drew, also a Team 31 co-chair, said. “Of the five W.I.L.D.s I have been involved in, this was the smoothest one.”
All the components of the fall W.I.L.D. production—including the performances, the vibe from the crowd, stage management and lighting—operated and synchronized excellently, according to Roberts.
According to Drew, in part because of the many giveaways such as Chipotle burritos and Sony headphones, more students than ever arrived early to see the show’s opening.
A few days before W.I.L.D., Team 31 sent an e-mail to all Washington University students encouraging them to come to the show early for free giveaways.
“We picked up a sponsor this time. They were sponsoring the tours. That’s why we had the free headphones and shades,” Roberts said. “It definitely got people there earlier than usual. The food also went a lot faster than we expected, maybe within an hour or so.”
According to Roberts, roughly 3,500 to 4,000 students attended this fall’s W.I.L.D. Team 31 also sold 260 guest tickets—150 more than the number of tickets sold for last semester’s W.I.L.D., which was headlined by George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars.
Good weather on Saturday was partially responsible for the success of this W.I.L.D. Last spring’s performance was dampened by scattered thunderstorms and chilly temperatures.
“I’ve been here two and a half years, and I know that the weather does play a huge factor, largely because it’s an outdoor concert,” Roberts said. “This time, the weather was great and there were tons of people there.”
This fall’s line-up, featuring hip-hop artists Talib Kweli, David Banner, Kid Sister, Little Brother and Nite Owl, also drew an excited and considerable crowd to the Brookings Quad.
“Each one of the acts has a nice-size following here, so the people who really liked the acts ranged from just being stunned and in awe that their favorite artist was here to just bouncing off the walls,” Drew said.
Roberts also said that, having heard no significant complaints about the scheduled performers, many students were excited about this semester’s hip-hop line-up.
“For some people, they were definitely more excited [about the hip-hop line-up],” Roberts said. “But, from what I heard, a lot of people also had not heard of the bands before.”
Those students, however, were certainly not disappointed.
“I thought that it was really fun. They were all good performers,” sophomore Billy Koury, whose favorite performer on Saturday was David Banner, said. “I was surprised.”
“He had really good stage presence and got a lot of people involved,” Koury said.
Roberts, whose favorite performer was also David Banner, said, “I think he surprised a lot of people. He put on a great show, and he was running past the crowd, pulling people on stage. He is known for having pretty high energy.”
David Banner, Talib Kweli and Little Brother all took part in an improvised performance during the last 20 minutes of the show.
“I thought [the performers] were highly energetic, and the students seemed to enjoy them a lot, especially when the top three performers came out on the stage together,” Drew said.
According to Roberts, some students even had the opportunity to meet David Banner in person after the show.
“David Banner just hung out until 12:30 [a.m.] or so. He was talking to some students, so he was pretty accessible to everyone there,” Roberts said. “I think WUTV interviewed him and Little Brother too.”
With additional reporting by Perry Stein
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