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The Daily Aztec
Arts & Culture
Oct. 27 - Nov. 2, 2021 EDITOR: Ryan Hardison • arts@thedailyaztec.com
Concert Roundup: selections from ‘Soulfly’ and the soul star
EDITOR IN CHIEF Catlan Nguyen MANAGING EDITOR Trinity Bland
By Ryan Hardison & Katarina Josifov
NEWS EDITOR Katelynn Robinson
CONTRIBUTOR, ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
OPINION EDITOR Aaliyah Alexander MUNDO AZTECA EDITOR Noé Sandoval
Oct. 20 - Rod Wave Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater Who says Wednesday evenings can’t be for sulking AND partying? Rod Wave says so. Known for his piano-laden beat selection which resembles a church ensemble and an eyeopening lyrical focus on mental health, Wave’s painful tales of heartbreak and being down on his luck resonate with a large audience. As a stop on the last leg of his “Soulfly” to support his March 26 album of the same name, Wave performed nearly a nation away from his West Florida origins on Oct. 20. Before the main event, a number of his affiliates drifted on and off stage like pestering flies, dropping a couple verses before dipping stage left, including fellow Florida rapper OMN Twee and Houston emcee DJ X.O. New Orleans rapper NoCap then emerged as the show’s primary opener. On nearly every track he rapped the final verses acapella, providing intimate moments with the audience. He performed his biggest hit “Ghetto Angels” twice (despite only performing seven songs), and led a spirited round of “Free YB”
ASST. MUNDO AZTECA EDITOR Karina Bazarte ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Ryan Hardison ASST. ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Cristina Lombardo SPORTS EDITOR Jason Freund ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Finley ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Amanda Orozco PHOTO EDITOR Noelani Sapla Photo by Noelani Sapla
Rod Wave performing the song “Green Light” from his 2019 project “Ghetto Gospel.”
chants, referring to his friend, incarcerated rapper Youngboy Never Broke Again. After NoCap departed, there were a few moments when the crowd leapt to their feet because of movement on the stage, only to be massively disappointed when a stagehand descended from behind the curtains. The house DJ bided the time between sets by exclusively playing mid2000s Young Jeezy hits like “Soul Survivor.” (Something which this humble arts & culture editor
deeply appreciated.) This was all a setup to time Wave’s emergence through the makeshift “Soulfly” pyramid center stage with the intro to Jeezy’s regional hit “Trap Star,” aligned with an elaborate timer counting down on a large screen. Wave covered a lot of ground in his show, beginning with selections from his hit-heavy 2019 project “Ghetto Gospel” and ending with songs from the deluxe version of “Soulfly.” Throughout the set, there was
ASST. MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Jayne Yutig
a massive momentum shift in the crowd from elation to revelation. It felt like many people in the crowd had been holding in intense pain and emotion, which was suddenly conjured up by two seconds of the tune from “Heart on Ice” and a passionate scream of the chorus. With the chance to fully sing with their chest while dancing away their struggles who needs therapy when you have Rod Wave to help overcome your deepest sorrows?
‘Halloweentown’ escape room blast from past By Lucelis Martínez SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The Center for Commuter Life hosted a “Halloweentown” virtual escape room event on Oct. 20. “Halloweentown” came out in 1998 on the Disney Channel, and was part of many childhoods since then. The success of the movie led to three sequels which were played during Halloween, year after year, as part of Disney’s Monstober lineup. “Halloweentown” was often the opener to the movie lineup, setting the tone for many spooky season lovers. The Center for Commuter Life has done a few virtual escape rooms since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so they said they decided to host another one for Halloween. Helen Ma, the Commuter Center success coach, has participated in the construction of several escape rooms including a winter games one done last year and another about “Pirates of the Caribbean.” A flyer for the event encouraged students to join a thrilling experience with familiar characters from the movie like the protagonist, Marni and the main villain, Kalabar. Ma encouraged Nicholas Perias, recent SDSU film graduate and graduate assistant at the Commuter Center, to build the virtual escape room. “He is the one who usually
Photo by Lucelis Martinez
A screenshot from the “Halloweentown” vitual escape room event.
does a lot of our flyers and our tech items,” Ma said. “He really enjoys directing, filming, editing, all of the works so I shared with him kind of my idea about having a Halloweentown theme escape room.” Ma said she suggested “Halloweentown” because she is a fan of the movies. Ma said Perias was shown past examples of other escape rooms they’d done and was encouraged to watch the movie in order to build the escape room. The event had a nice turnout, according to Ma. Attendees were separated into groups as the riddles appeared on the screen and were encouraged to work together to solve the puzzles. Within the first few minutes of the event, 19 people had already joined the Zoom meeting. Ma said not too many students had been showing up to events,
understandably, due to the transition from online to inperson classes. “We try to offer virtual and inperson events,” Ma said. “So, that was one of our most successful virtual events this semester.” She said she feels this theme drew people in. Attendees were asked to pay careful attention to each riddle. They didn’t have to be fans of the movies to participate, as the game explained each element as it went on. The interactive virtual escape room included hints disguised in morse code, roman numerals and riddles that alluded to the movie. One team figured out a step in the escape room in under two minutes. A water bottle from the Commuter Resource Center served as a prize for solving one of the riddles, while a T-shirt was awarded at the end with a
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Mackenzie Stafford
fortune wheel. Ma said she thinks it’s important for students to get involved with the Commuter Resource Center, which is located on the second floor of the Aztec Student Union in the office of Student Life and Leadership (Room 210). “I think it’s just a great way to get to know the Commuter Life staff first of all cause we try to include all of our staff in the events, just so students know that we’re humans as well,” Ma said. Ma said she doesn’t want students to be intimidated or afraid to reach out. “Kind of like in the escape room, even though that was a virtual event we tried to incorporate it so that students could see other students,” Ma said. Putting the students in different breakout rooms was a deliberate move by the center to encourage people to talk to one another, in a way they may not regularly do. “Even if it’s just a small connection, like maybe they’ll click and they could start a friendship right there,” Ma said. The center provides some amenities for commuter students such as individual and group study tables, microwaves, comfortable arm chairs and free printing, according to the official website. Students are permitted to print five free pages per commuter life event they attend.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Hemen Mesfin
STAFF WRITERS Lindsey Anderson Eugènie Budnik Adam Correa Brenna Martinez Morgan Ray Isabel Smith SENIOR STAFF WRITERS Juan Daniel Avila Lucelis Martinez Sara Rott Jessica Octavio CONTRIBUTORS Lindsey Anderson Meghan Ellis Joshua Frojelin Taylor Harris Christian Houser Kennedy Humphrey Katarina Josifov Owen Pratt Willem Quigley Gabriel Schneider Sierra Stallworth Sumaia Wegner ________________________________ ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Brian Arnold GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST Luis Valenzuela EDITORIAL 619.594.4190 editor@thedailyaztec.com ADVERTISING 619.594.6977 advertising@thedailyaztec.com PRINT The Daily Aztec publishes 5,000 copies of its weekly print edition every Wednesday throughout the semester WEB Daily content is available at www.thedailyaztec.com QUESTIONS/COMMENTS letters@thedailyaztec.com The views and opinions expressed in this issue do not necessarily reflect those of The Daily Aztec.
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