This year’s Fallapalooza, held on Sept. 18, was headlined by singer-songwriter Ashe, with alternative rock band Friday Pilots Club and student band Dublin as openers. The outdoor concert is hosted annually by the Programming Board.
Dublin performed a variety of rock and pop covers, including “bad idea!” by Girl in Red and “Beggin’” by The Four Seasons, to an energetic crowd.
“We saw people dancing to some songs, and we saw people singing along to every song at some point,” Dublin drummer Jim Heller ’28 said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Malini Sampath ’27, who was in the crowd, emphasized this energy, adding that she appreciated the band’s choice of covers. She explained that “a lot of the time you don’t know the artist’s songs, but you know the covers,” which encouraged the “dancing.”
Heller said Dublin “immediately said yes” to the chance to be the student band opener.
“It was the most professional music setup [we had] ever played in,” he added.
After Dublin’s set, Friday Pilots Club delivered a mix of alternative rock and indie pop sounds while playing some of their hits, such as their breakout single “End of It” and “Vampire Disco.”
Following Friday Pilots Club, the event’s main draw was the critically acclaimed Ashe.
“I knew a couple of her songs, and she’s just a good performer,” Sampath said. “Like she got up there, and the body language was really good.”
Heller also praised Ashe’s ability to command the crowd.
“I thought Ashe especially did a super great job of making people excited and putting on a great performance,” he said.
Jillian Fracht ’30 said hearing Ashe for the first time at the concert made her start “listening to her.”
Ashe paid tribute to the Class of 2027 by asking, “Where are the seniors at?” during her performance of “Stop the Wedding,” a song about turning back before making a mistake.
“She was kind of relating that back to [the idea that], you’re in college, you don’t know what you’re doing yet; change your mind, go explore stuff,” Sampath said.
Ashe also performed several unreleased songs from her upcoming album “The Girl of Your Dreams” to great success. Fracht called the track “Swan Lake” her favorite in the setlist. A prior fan of Ashe, Joy Meshulam ’30 said it made her feel “special” to hear "Swan Lake" before release.
Heller said “the vibes just felt much more open” at this year’s Fallapalooza compared to previous ones he has attended.
Fracht agreed with this sentiment, adding that “everyone had a lot of respect for each other” compared to rowdier concert environments that she has sometimes come to expect.
As Meshulam’s first concert, she called it “amazing.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better concert that close [up] for the price of, you know, $100,000 tuition,” she joked.
