Codeword for Conte - Akon

The walls of Conte Forum were literally throbbing from bass Friday night as Akon put on one of the most energetic and entertaining performances Boston College has provided for students in recent memory. The selection of Akon was a break from the critical darlings Lupe Fiasco, Ben Folds, and The Roots Undergraduate Government of BC (UGBC) booked last year, but he sold out the entire arena and got a better crowd response than any of last year's performers.

After a brief intermission following opener Mario's set, a member of Akon's entourage performed, and the night's headliner took the stage to open with his hook to "Cross That Line" by Rick Ross. Although the crowd was putting forth a deafening roar of excitement, the first song left me a little concerned. As expected, Conte Forum's acoustics left much to be desired, and given Akon's extensive repertoire, it was uncertain if the concert would naturally flow from song to song or consist of choppy, disembodied choruses. Despite the problematic acoustics, Akon alleviated any fear by following with his own song, "Shakedown" from his 2006 album Konvicted.

He alternates choruses he sang as a featured artist, such as "We Takin' Over" by DJ Khaled, "Soul Survivor" by Young Jeezy, and then 50 Cent's "Still Kill" with more songs from his solo catalogue, like "It's OK" and "Locked Up." Even though this format of full songs sandwiched between random choruses slightly held Akon back from fully hitting his stride, the crowd loved it, and his DJ acted as a hype man to keep the mood upbeat. Given that the concert was being held on the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Akon took an appropriate moment to offer a brief tribute to the victims of the attacks and offer his support. He continued on this serious note by performing "Ghetto." He mixed things up by beginning the song a capella. Unfortunately, he got a lethargic response when he tried to get the crowd to sing part of the chorus. The performance of the song was great, but the crowd came to party, not to think about anything serious.

By the time he finished performing "Ghetto," a near-miracle had occurred - the acoustics inside Conte actually sounded good. Akon capitalized on this to rejuvenate the crowd, tearing into his smash-hit "Don't Matter," which got the entire audience slurring their speech to the words. The hooks to "Dangerous" by Kardinal Offishall, "I Wanna Love You" (in which he let the crowd sing the final chorus), and "Bartender" by T-Pain kept the rollicking atmosphere going. By the time Akon finished performing his part to "Smack That," he had worked the crowd into a mad frenzy. Akon pushed the security to the next level when he got everybody in the seats to rush the floor. The crowd rushed with the same enthusiasm as they did at last year's Duke basketball game, overwhelming security, emptying the seats, and turning the floor into a wild dance party.

With the crowd's excitement peaked, Akon continued to pull out hits, playing his part to T-Pain's "In Love With a Stripper" while he stripped down to his jeans (which he started to take off on stage before backing out) and doused the crowd with water. He closed out his performance with more massive hits, playing "What You Got," his collaboration with Colby O'Donis and Kardinal Offishall, followed by "Right Now (Na Na Na)," during which Akon jumped into the crowd.

As he started to perform his part to "Sexy B-" by David Guetta, the lights awkwardly went on, the beat went silent, and Akon's microphone was turned off. Like most of the wildest parties on campus, BC authorities shut the concert down early. Akon's band members exchanged confused looks, and Akon defeatedly shouted out something to the crowd, took a bow, and left the stage.

Despite the deflating, premature end to the concert, it was still a worthwhile show and one the UGBC should seek to replicate for the Spring Concert. The atmosphere inside Conte was unlike anything any musical act has brought, and the performance, augmented by his use of a live drummer and bassist, was the most energetic BC has seen. Akon may have ended the show on the wrong side of campus authorities, but hey, we all know the first write-up is worth it if the party is awesome enough.