As a music lover, it’s always been a dream of mine to plan my own concert. After becoming much more involved in music, it was only right to do it sooner rather than later. My friend Derek Blidy and myself decided to host our first show at The Coffeehouse near Illinois State University. While it was a lot of hard work and planning, the reward was much greater. We had performances from Michael Collins, Moody, Damon Alexander, wheresawill, and kaj. The support from our peers and music lovers on campus made the “IlliNOISE” show successful.

The night started off with a DJ set from Michael Collins, a student at Illinois State. I asked Michael last minute to come out and DJ during the beginning of the night and he killed it. It was the perfect warmup for the rap performances that were coming next. He played a variety of different tracks to get the audience ready for what was to come!

Moody was the first artist to grab the mic and show everyone what he brings to the table. He wasn’t afraid to sing a bit and even show his lyricism. While Moody’s set was only about fifteen minutes, those who saw him were impressed. As soon as he jumped on stage, he told everyone to come closer and enjoy the performances. Even I was impressed by the way he worked the crowd and got their attention right off the bat.

Damon Alexander was up next to perform after he was introduced to the audience during a song on Moody’s set. Damon always brings the energy to his performances and shows off his lyrical ability. I wasn’t surprised when Damon jumped right in and had the crowd vibing to his tracks. There’s no question that Damon can rap and turn some heads but he wasn’t afraid to sing and play some more chilled out tracks. He performed a track with G-Paper off of his collaborative album with LoudMouth. Damon showed his versatility and proved to the audience he’s been working hard.

For our final rap performance, we brought out wheresawill who I’ve been working with for some time now. It was only right to bring him down to ISU, especially to perform with his boys G-Paper, Moody, and Damon Alexander. His performance had the audience watching as he took the mic and showed his skills. He performed some of my favorite tracks like DREAM, Purp Cobain (unreleased), and Legends In The Making. It was a bittersweet ending to some incredible performances from Hip Hop’s emerging talent.

The night was finished off by the one and only, kaj. I couldn’t be more thankful that kaj came all the way from Iowa City to celebrate the night with us. Whenever kaj has a performance, it gets a lot of people hyped and eager to see what he plays. Like always, he had the audience going wild and even had me and Derek on stage going crazy. He always brings something crazy to his performances and he did not disappoint. It was a great way to finish off the night and the first ever “IlliNOISE.”

While the show was successful and a blast, Derek and I knew this was only the beginning of something much bigger. We plan to host more shows in the future at Illinois State and beyond. The show was nothing short of amazing and I will cherish it for a lifetime. I couldn’t be more thankful for the people who made this happen. A big thank you to everyone who came out to support us!