Editor’s note: This story was updated Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. to correctly contextualize a quote from a band member.

Yung Gravy led UVM students in a moment of silence for the extinct catamount species and Queen Elizabeth II before diving into his rap performance Friday night. 

FallFest returned to Patrick Gym Sept. 30, opening the stage to UVM student band McAuley Kart and headliner Yung Gravy after the event’s three-year hiatus due to COVID-19. Doors opened at 7 p.m. and the show ran from 8-10 p.m.

The UVM Program Board, which hosts the annual indoor concert, informed students they could buy tickets online for $10 two days prior to the event, but the website crashed shortly after going live. 

The crash prevented some people, like first-year Abigail Kortering, from purchasing a ticket within the three hours before they sold out.

“I kept refreshing until I was finally able to get a ticket into my cart, but it wouldn’t let me check out, which was even more frustrating,” Kortering said. “I wondered how other people even got tickets—I feel like I did everything I could to get one.”

McAuley Kart took the stage to open for Yung Gravy at 8 p.m. Their set featured original songs such as “Reminiscent” and “Wine Mom,” and the band debuted a new original titled “I Saw Crop Circles in My Backyard One Time.” 

With humble beginnings of casual jam sessions in the Back Five on Trinity campus, McAuley Kart’s sound defies any genre categorization and is best described as “Kart Core,” said junior Caleb Litster, the band’s guitarist. 

The band found out that FallFest was happening only Monday before the event and learned about the headliner when everyone else did, said McAuley Kart guitarist and junior Dmitri Angell. 

“Being in class for those three days after the Yung Gravy announcement was excruciating,” Angell said. “I just wanted to get [the wait] over with.”

The members of McAuley Kart were not all fans of Yung Gravy prior to the show, eliciting mixed feelings when they found out who they would be opening for.

Despite her personal distaste for Yung Gravy’s music, McAuley Kart lead singer and junior Kaia Ellis expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to open for him. 

“The amount of exposure we were able to get is awesome,” Ellis said. “I’m really, really, really thankful for the opportunity to share our music with more people.”

DJ Tiiiiiiiiiip, Yung Gravy’s DJ, took the stage 15 minutes before Yung Gravy joined him, playing pop music and waving a can of Yerba Mate in the air.

“I don’t know why y’all like this shit so much,” he said before tossing the drink into the audience. 

DJ Tiiiiiiiiiip used various bits and pieces of UVM slang in an attempt to energize the audience. 

“Shoutout to the Grundle,” he said. “That reminded me of Sputies.”

Yung Gravy took the stage at 9 p.m. and performed popular songs such as “Mr. Clean,” “Betty (Get Money),” and “oops!” as well as a new single, “C’est la Vie,” which dropped Sept. 23. 

“I’ve heard big things about Vermont. My dad used to live here. My sister raised horses here,” he said before changing into a UVM hockey jersey onstage. 

As students threw bras and a few cell phones onto the stage, Yung Gravy tossed bananas, water bottles, cereal, Oreos and an autographed Lunchables into the crowd during and between numbers.

“I used to use a rotisserie chicken and COVID messed with that a little bit,” he said to the crowd. 

Yung Gravy’s distinct social media presence attracted first-year Caroline Nesci to this year’s FallFest despite the fact that she’s familiar with only a few of his songs, she said.

“I thought it was kind of crazy that we got Yung Gravy because he’s been kind of a joke on TikTok recently,” Nesci said. “My expectations were pretty low because it was an $11 ticket, but I had a really great time—it was just super hot and crowded.”

A sweaty mob was what first-year Abby Bodenrader expected, she said. 

“Some guy’s hair was in my mouth, but it was just a classic mosh pit,” Bodenrader said. “Not too surprising.”

After rapper SAINt JHN headlined last year’s SpringFest, junior Marguerite Jouët hopes for more genre diversity at future University festivals, she said. 

“I’d like to see a non-rapper,” Jouët said. “We’ve had rappers for two years in a row, and I would love some more rock.” 

Senior Annika Ringen came to the concert dressed as the pope and holding a sign that read “Gravy for Pope,” the title of a Yung Gravy song. 

“I wanted to come in costume,” Ringen said. “This was the first song I could think of. He’s big on my skiing playlist.”

Whether students came to hear good music, support student performers or simply have a fun Friday night, the Gravy Train left an impression on the UVM campus.