As students of West Virginia University begin to file into Morgantown in early to mid-August, the city begins once again to fill with life. Welcome Week corrals everyone, from confused freshmen to jolly fifth-years, to a collection of activities. What's the highlight of these activities? FallFest. FallFest is the yearly concert that brings in iconic acts–past artists including 21 Savage, Kanye West, Dierks Bentley, Maroon 5, and Kendrick Lamar. The lineup release is always highly anticipated, so I'm going lie down my 10 predictions for FallFest 2018.
10. Maroon 5
Although Maroon 5 is a pretty big act to be on this list, there are a few reasons I chose to include them. Though there have been few other acts to make second appearances, like Mac Miller did, Maroon 5 may be the next. The band's tour schedule features a gap between August 5th and August 25th, leaving the potential for an appearance at FallFest's August 14th date. The band is also pretty notorious for making surprise appearances. In their music video for "Sugar", they appear at weddings. The reason I put them so low on the list, however, is because of the general request for other artists, lack of requests for Maroon 5, and well as Adam Levine's rise in popularity from The Voice. Regardless, keep an eye out for them.
9. Bruno Mars and Cardi B
Again, this is another large act to expect, but I've still got my reasons. Similar to Maroon 5, Bruno Mars' tour with Cardi B has a gap, this time a little larger being between Lollapalooza's August 3rd date and September 7th, the start of the full tour. These two, particularly Cardi B, were highly requested this year and I'm sure whoever is in charge of the event did their best to get them. But I expect that some speed bumps were hit. Not only is Cardi B fresh out of labor, but both of the acts are likely pricey. The large influx of requests for Cardi B puts these two above Maroon 5, so I wouldn't get your hopes up, but maybe they "Finesse"-ed it...
8. Little Big Town and Miranda Lambert
I know this one may seem like an odd choice for a college campus concert, but I've got my reasoning. It's been three years since any country artist was featured at FallFest (The Eli Young Band) and four years since a large country act has made their way to our campus (Dierks Bentley.) The two acts are currently touring together and have a small gap in their schedule between August 11th in Dallas and August 16th at Darien Center, allowing for a possible performance in Morgantown. While neither may have been extremely requested, it's likely for a country act to make an appearance, and these two fit the bill!
7. Janelle Monae
Though she's not an extremely mainstream artist, Janelle Monae has had a few hits, and those who do listen to her music back her hard. I can't imagine she was one to be requested by many, but her hit "Tightrope", open tour dates between August 10th and 25th, and general availability leave her as a strong contender. The tour dates she does have feature artists like Arctic Monkeys, Tyler, the Creator, The Weeknd, and many other big artists. There's not only a strong possibility of her appearing at FallFest, but also bringing along someone with her.
6. Vince Staples and Tyler, the Creator
The first on the list to not be on a current tour, both Tyler and Vince just finished up their shared tour and have a spattering of performances throughout the summer and into the fall. This leaves the majority of their summer open and gives them a strong chance of them appearing in Morgantown next month. Loved by many, Tyler and Vince's music aren't typically featured on the radio, but both have a loyal fanbase. As previously mentioned in #6, Tyler also has performances with Janelle Monae, so will the two be appearing together? We're going to have to wait and see!
5. Logic
Another artist currently touring, Logic clocks in at number five on this list, as we get into some of the strong possibilities. This past year was a big one for Logic, as songs like "1-800-273-8255", "Everyday", "Pray", and "Sucker for Pain" gained popularity. In addition to this, there is a large gap in his tour schedule from August 11th to September 14th, and was without a doubt a popular choice in requests for FallFest this year. After the rapper's appearance on the CBS Sunday Morning program, his down-to-earth attitude and humbleness leave him as a strong contender for this year's concert.
4. Big Sean
Maybe a random choice in some people's eyes for this lineup, Big Sean comes in pretty high on this list for a variety of reasons. Much like Maroon 5, Big Sean has already appeared once at FallFest alongside Mac Miller in 2011. We already know of Mac Miller's second appearance, so who's to say that Big Sean won't be back. He has plenty of popular songs like "Bounce Back", "I Don't F*ck With You", and his newest song, "Momma". Though he recently postponed his original tour dates, maybe a stop a stop in Morgantown can kick things off or even just fall in somewhere along the way!
3. Khalid
Admittedly, this one may just be me having really high hopes, but part of me is definitely saying THAT there's a fairly strong chance for Khalid to make his way to little Morgantown next month. Khalid is undoubtedly one of the best breakout artists of 2017 with his album "American Teen", which I shamelessly own all of. Songs such as "Young Dumb & Broke", "Let's Go", and the most well known, "Location", introduced us to the 20-year-old artist. Since the initial album, he's had a handful of other releases and is a staple in the musical library of millennials. While I can't speak for everyone, Khalid was my number one request for FallFest this year and there's no doubt in my mind he was on many others' lists. On top of this, he's not currently on an official tour, leaving him wide open, besides a performance on August 24th in Columbus, which is conveniently somewhat close to Morgantown... PLEASE, KHALID.
2. Kesha and Macklemore
Coming in at number two is the iconic duo of Kesha and Macklemore. The two are currently touring together and have a large opening in the tour schedule, the last concert being August 7th in Bethlehem, PA, a short (and convenient) four-and-a-half hours from Morgantown. In addition to this, Macklemore comes in as a possible third returning artist, having appeared with Ryan Lewis and Capital Cities five years ago in 2013. Kesha's recent resurgence in modern music with her new album "Rainbow" has her creating a new fanbase, with her previous fanbase from songs like "Dinosaur" and "Take it Off". Because of this, a performance at a college would be a smart and easy PR move. I definitely see these two as very strong contenders for FallFest 2018.
1. Troye Sivan
Okay, I definitely just heard an audible "Who?" from a lot of you, but give me a minute to explain my number one choice. For those of you who haven't heard of him, Troye Sivan is an Australian YouTube sensation turned recording artist. His premiere EP, "TRXYE" came out in 2014, but he has since grown dramatically, most recently releasing a song with Ariana Grande. In addition to "Dance to This" with Ariana, Troye has released a full album and variety of singles with artists like Zedd, Martin Garrix, and others. He's appeared at Coachella and the iHeartRadio music festival, but still isn't a household name. In the best way possible, Troye Sivan is the perfect definition of "famous, but not too famous" for FallFest. What I'm saying is that he was likely requested by some and is the strongest possibility, due to his popularity. But he's not so popular that it takes an insane dollar amount to get him to Morgantown. In addition, his current tour has a pretty long break starting after his August 4th concert in Hershey, PA, just a little over three hours from WVU. Overall, Troye's stars are definitely in line to be appearing in Morgantown in a little under a month!
Before you go and tell all your friends that you know who's coming to FallFest, I want you to take all of these with a grain of salt. Though I did my research, all of these are simply my best guesses, along with some facts to back them up. We should be finding out our real lineup here in the coming weeks, so what're your predictions? Did you see your favorites on the list? If you didn't, feel free to talk about it in the comments!
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