By Cami Gore
Chelsea Cutler had three rules for her audience: make a friend, put your phones away and have a really good time.
Cutler performed at Ritchie Coliseum as part of the University of Maryland’s Fallapalooza event, presented by Student Entertainment Events on Oct. 11.
Cutler’s opening act was decided by SEE’s student opener mixer competition. The winner was Giancarlo Estrada, who goes by Gianni. According to SEE’s Facebook page, “he has appeared on the same bills as high-profile acts such as Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki, Loud Luxury, Flosstradamus and more.”
“Chelsea Cutler is a singer, songwriter and producer of introspective EDM,” according to SEE’s website. Freshman business major Melanie Turner said she thought, “Oh my God, I’m so lucky she’s coming to my school” when she first heard about the concert from Instagram.
After her first few songs, Cutler acknowledged she was primarily playing for college students that night and said “the media dictates everything you do.” She challenged the audience to put their phones away and then went into song “Cold Showers.”
Cell biology & genetics major Maura DePascal and business major Olivia Cook previously saw Cutler perform over the summer at Firefly Music Festival. They came to see her a second time at Fallapalooza, and said they were most excited to dance.
Prompting the audience to sing along, Cutler covered The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” One audience member screamed out “You’re the best!” to which Cutler replied, “No, you’re the best!”
Cutler closed out the show by singing “The Reason,” which DePascal said is her favorite song of Cutler’s. Once “The Reason” concluded, many audience members chanted “Encore,” hoping for more. Cutler and her team did not oblige.
Senior business major Jemma Lehner messaged Cutler on Instagram when she first heard that she was coming to UMD, and asked her to play her version of her favorite song, “Summer Love.” To Lehner’s disappointment, Cutler did not play it.
“I was disappointed that Chelsea did not play a few songs, but it was overall a great show,” said Lehner.
Featured Photo Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Cutler’s Facebook page.
Cami Gore is a sophomore journalism and dance major and can be reached at camgore13@gmail.com.
