Featuring electrifying performances from Yung Gravy and Duckwrth with the seasonal debut of the NC State men’s and women’s basketball teams, the University Activities Board (UAB) partnered with NC State Athletics to host Primetime with the Pack x packHOWL in Reynolds Coliseum on Thursday, Oct. 14.
The event opened to the arrival of the NC State men’s and women’s basketball teams with men’s coach Kevin Keatts and women’s coach Wes Moore, preceded by interviews with the players, skills contests, and a dance-off, officially kicking off the 2021-22 basketball season.
This year marks the first time that UAB has collaborated with NC State Athletics. Concerts Chair Cole Harris, a third-year studying physics and biology, said that the UAB chose to partner with NC State Athletics due to feasibility.
“When we were looking for a venue for a general concert, there weren’t a lot of options. An outside concert was really unfeasible with our timeline moving up,” Harris said. “…We’d been thinking about expanding packHOWL and [NC State] Athletics had been wanting to do a concert with Primetime with the Pack for a while. So I think it just worked out for everybody.”
With the last packHOWL concert having featured T-Pain in 2019, this concert didn’t disappoint when it came to student turnout.
“This year, we were limited on the number of floor seats we could have just because of the nature of Primetime with the Pack x packHOWL since half of the floor was open,” Harris said. “It wasn’t too many less, but that was the only true distinction we can make between this year and 2019.”
Harris said that this year’s Primetime with the Pack x packHOWL event had the largest team yet.
“I think it’s really important to know that UAB is entirely student-run,” Harris said. “[packHOWL] went really smoothly from our end just because we had so many student volunteers. I think a lot of students who attended probably missed how much actual student work went into this.”
For students on campus, the annual packHOWL concert is a chance to relax and unwind from the stress of classes and homework. Mason Cook, a third-year studying sports management, said that he found out about the event through an NC State Athletics email.
“I wanted to come support the basketball team,” Cook said. “It’s a cool concert and event, and a chance to be social. After COVID-19, it’s nice to go out and do stuff.”
Arriving just after 7 p.m., artist Duckwrth performed some of his greatest hits, including “Start a Riot” from the “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” soundtrack and songs “Kiss U Right Now” and “Super Bounce” from 2020 major debut album “SuperGood.”
Rapper Yung Gray entered the stage later that night, performing classics like “Mr. Clean,” “1 Thot 2 Thot Red Thot Blue Thot” and “Cheryl,” ending the set with a glimpse of a potential new single.
Megan Cislo, a third-year studying nutrition science and biology, said that Yung Gravy’s performance exceeded her expectations.
“He made it enjoyable,” Cislo said. “It wasn’t just his singing or rapping. It also felt like we were getting to interact with him, his charisma and everything.”
