Photo from the mosh pit, always the best.

Last night, Switchfoot (they still exist) held a concert right here in Roone Arledge Auditorium.  Switchfoot Groupie Paula Pineros jumped on the opportunity to see the band and relayed how it went.

The second I heard there would be a Switchfoot concert in New York City, I got excited. The second I heard that I wouldn’t have to leave the comfort of the Bubble or spend any money on it, I jumped with joy. I arrived at Roone just before it began, so obviously I got stuck sitting at the back. The event was put on by CFA and Intervarsity in partnership with PULSE Movement. Going in, I thought it would be just Columbia students, but there was actually a lot of people from other schools as well—I even managed to make a friend from Baruch! The first half of the event was made up of testimonials from Columbia Alumni who explained their life as Christians and included some spoken word poetry.

As the concert began, this author wanted to get some cool pics of Colton Dixon to share on this article, so I walked to the front of the room, right in front of the stage. That was a really smart move, because soon other people crowded around the front. (So, thus far, the moral of the story is you can be late and still end up winning). The only thing I didn’t love about my spot was the proximity of the screaming person behind my ear.

I wasn’t really acquainted with Colton other than knowledge of his name and the fact that he was in American Idol at some point after I’d stopped watching, so I didn’t expect much. However, he is, in fact, quite a performer. He was engaging and, best of all, could give PrezBo a run for his money in a hair-off. When Switchfoot came out, the crowd (and especially the screaming guy) went wild! They started off with a song from their new album, but also had a nice mix of hits that shot them into fame, like “Meant to Live” and “Dare You To Move.”  Some of the newer stuff included “Love Alone is Worth the Fight” from their latest album.  My favorite parts were when the crowd sang back to the band, so of course I snapchatted them for all to see. Switchfoot has a really cool dynamic on stage, and even off. The lead singer, Jon Foreman, came down to hang with the crowd twice, and even wore a guy’s hat for a little (which must have been really awesome and gross at the same time. I mean, the guy had been on stage for like 30 minutes by then and was pretty sweaty).

As soon as the band was done playing, the crowd dispersed, even though there were raffle prizes like a month card for the subway. I followed the crowd out as I checked my snapchat view count. Overall, it was an awesome and nostalgic time.