Mason’s guilty pleasure: Cobra Starship’s performance brings Mason Day to a successful close

“We came here for one reason and one reason only, to be your fucking guilty pleasure,” cried out Cobra Starship’s leading man Gabe Saporta to a fist-pumping sea of unruly George Mason University students during Thursday’s Mason Day concert. The crowd was guilt-free, however, as students shamelessly danced their way through a synth-pop set list of hipster anthems about alcohol-induced hookups and hot messes.

The band headlined George Mason University’s annual Mason Day last Thursday in a transformed lot L that featured carnival rides, free eats and a main stage that stayed ghostly vacant for most of the day until Starship’s arrival.

Assistant Director for Programming Michelle Davis felt the night proved to be a hit with students.

“Overall it was great” said Davis. “Everything went really smoothly and we had an amazing crowd out there, so I’d say the students really liked it. We had a lot of students excited and enjoying the concert so I think it was a great success.”

The instantly recognizable hit “The City is at War” set things off for the night, showcasing the bands infectious energy that caused the Mason Day crowd to ditch the rides and swarm to the stage.

Cobra Starship’s set list proved to be predictable throughout the night, only highlighting the bands more commercially successful singles.

Rarely did the band risk taking a chance to step out of their comfort zone and dust off some of their lesser known songs for the crowd.

The band’s Gwen Stefani-inspired “Hollaback Boy” and guitarist Ryland Blackinton’s teasing performance of AC/DC’s intro to “Thunderstruck” were the only two surprises of the night.

The bands ability to interact with the crowd was the highlight for most of the attendees.

“I’m not really into the band’s music, but the crowd interaction they had with the students kept it interesting for the people who didn’t really know them that well,” said senior administration of justice major Cameron Foster.

Contributing to the Mason- themed day and proving even more their ability to control a crowd, the band led the Mason student mob in a “G-M-U What” chant.

The chant included Blackinton yelling the “G-M-U” part in auto-tune with drummer Nate Novarro banging out a beat along with it.
In addition, Saporta even brought up a Mason student to sing Travis McCoy’s part in Starship’s debut single “Snakes on a Plane.”

After their set ended, the band came out for their encore performance and played “Good Girls Go Bad,” the first single off their most recent album Hot Mess. “This song is to make all the GMU girls out there go bad,” said Saporta.