Vanderbilt Programming Board announced the 2024 Rites of Spring music festival will feature headliners Young Nudy, Smino and Orion Sun. The concert will be held on Alumni Lawn on April 20, a shortened, one-day version of the typically two-day music festival.
Commodore Quake, the annual homecoming concert, was canceled this school year due to budget cuts and on-campus construction. VPB leaders did not respond to The Hustler’s requests for comment about whether the shortened Rites is also due to the budget cuts. The leaders also did not respond to requests for comments about the chosen line-up.
Last year, the Rites lineup — which included Sean Kingston, Muni Long, Coco Jones, Maude Latour, Edgehill and Yaubryon — was accidentally leaked before being confirmed a few days later.
Julian Delamaza, a senior, expressed disappointment that Rites will be a smaller event than in years past, especially after Quake was canceled. He said he is excited to see Smino live but is not impressed with the rest of the lineup.
“I am a big Smino fan, so I love that I get to see him, but, besides that, the lineup is objectively mid — especially in comparison to years past,” Delamaza said in a message to The Hustler. “The fact that Rites is now one day is also a huge letdown because there is much less diversity in music genres and, of course, only one day of fun…I feel like the lack of diversity in music genres is even more important than people realize because the lineup seems very unrepresentative of the music tastes throughout campus.”
Delamaza also said he wished VPB had reused its voting process to select artists from last year.
“[The voting process] allowed for people who cared about Rites to have input and also provide valuable transparency in the selection process,” Delamarza said. “While I am sure I will still have a great time during all the sets, I just wish students had more of a say on which artists were brought, especially if Rites is going to continue with less popular artists.”
Jayden Henry, a first-year, expressed a similar disappointment with the lineup.
“I have to say, compared with previous years’ lineups, it’s a disappointment,” Henry said in a message to The Hustler. “It just seems like a bizarre selection, not of the caliber to please many students.”
Tickets can be purchased using credit, debit or Commodore Cash online via Vanderbilt’s Virtual Box Office.
