Lions Roar ends with campus Block Party

The second annual Block Party was held Friday, Sept. 16, on the walkway between the Rayburn Student Center and the Science building.  The event, organized by The Club, featured four musical acts including Pleasure P and headliner Eli Young Band. 

Students lined up outside of the RSC, waiting to gain entrance to the party where they would enjoy hotdogs, drinks and entertainment such as inflatable games and a mechanical bull in addition to the live music.  The event's artists were chosen by a university committee in charge of selecting entertainment that would be fun and appropriate for students and community members alike.

"The artists were chosen by a board of A&M-Commerce employees," junior marketing major and marketing and promotions coordinator for The Club Shiloh Burney said.  ""Once the artists were chosen, we then went on to decide what other activities would be provided.  This year, there was a mechanical bull, a bungee run, a henna artist and a magician."

Junior Naomi Ruiz-Medellin was in attendance Friday night and tried her hand at a little southern fun. 

"I really like the event," she said.  "It is cool to come out and get to see Commerce bring in performers and stuff for us to do.  I am going to try the mechanical bull.  I think I can handle it."

Amidst the hoopla, the rain the community has been seeking for months made an appearance, but the party didn't stop. Despite the inclement weather, the audience enjoyed the festivities and carried on having fun.

"The rain made it more fun for us," junior Christine Presti said.  "I was really excited to see Pleasure P and Eli Young."

Amongst the few complaints from patrons regarding the event was a comment from senior Casey Beck concerning ticket availability.

"It was really frustrating that they ran out of non-student tickets," she said.  "I was pretty upset because my sister drove four hours to come see me and I wanted to bring her to the concert to see Eli Young Band perform, but they said that she could not come in because they had run out of tickets for non-students."

After some negotiation, Beck's sister was given a ticket and admitted to the event; but the event was indeed sold out of tickets, a symbol of its success, according to Burney.

"The party was a huge success," she said.  "The students seemed to really enjoy the artists that were performing.  We did run out of community (non-student) tickets because we only had a select amount to be sold.  This event is paid for by part of the fees that students pay and is [essentially] put on for them."