For the first time ever, USC’s Springfest lit up the inside of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this past Friday. What has historically been a campus-bound festival took a monumental leap forward this year, both in scale and energy. Headlined by rapper Don Toliver and featuring rising indie pop artist Lyn Lapid, Springfest 2025 wasn’t just a concert. It was a full-blown, student-produced music festival housed in one of the most iconic venues in Los Angeles.
USC’s Concerts Committee, which organizes three major events each year (Welcome Back!, Conquest, and Springfest) has a reputation for punching above its weight. In recent years, they’ve brought in acts like Dominic Fike, Denzel Curry, and 070 Shake, but the legacy goes even deeper with names like No Doubt, Childish Gambino, Migos and Post Malone in past lineups. This year, they kept that momentum going and raised the bar even higher.
When Don Toliver was announced in early March, alongside Lyn Lapid, the hype began instantly. So much so, that tech issues quickly followed. The event was free to students but required registration through EngageSC, which crashed multiple times from overwhelming traffic. From thousands of sign-ups, along with a waitlist, to guest tickets priced at $55, demand wasn’t just high, it was historic.
The show was originally planned to be at The Torch, a more intimate outdoor space right outside the Coliseum. The event was eventually upgraded to the full stadium, marking a special full-circle moment for graduating seniors on the committee. Many had been freshmen when Dominic Fike performed at The Torch, and now, just a few years later, they helped book a nationally recognized headliner inside the Coliseum itself. Though only across the street from campus, for the Concerts Committee, the idea of hosting a concert inside the Coli’s storied walls once felt worlds away until now.
The day started early for both the committee and dedicated attendees. Lines to camp opened at 2:00 p.m. for a 9:00 p.m. headliner. The trek to the Coliseum for students, while familiar for fall football games, felt newly electric. Once inside, students were met with curated experiences: art installations, live projections from student artists, food trucks, a merch booth, and a beer garden for the 21+ crowd — an experience simply not possible had the event remained on campus. There were details everywhere for the trained eye, from tire chairs to futuristic prints that referenced Don Toliver’s gritty, sci-fi dreamscape aesthetic.
The production was impressive. The stadium set-up rivaled that of pro-run events. As sophomore Kaylie Wu, co-director of Hospitality for the committee, told Annenberg Media in a previous interview: “Everything that the Concerts Committee does mirror exactly how live music events are organized in the real world.” While the committee’s efforts were undoubtedly exhaustive, the experience from an attendee’s perspective felt effortless and polished. It is almost hard to believe that Trojans get to experience it all for free.
The music didn’t wait for nightfall. Attendees were treated to performances from student artists as the stadium filled up every hour. Student acts included TheBandFriday, Michele Lu and Small Talk, the latter earning their spot on the lineup after winning the Concerts Committee’s Battle of the Bands competition back in February.
As dusk fell, Lyn Lapid took the stage with warmth and presence. Wearing USC gear and leaning into Trojan spirit, complete with a prompted “F UCLA”, she charmed the crowd with soulful vocals and college-town energy. Earlier in the day, she had also connected with students in a speaker event hosted by the International Student Assembly (ISA) and Asian Pacific American Student Assembly (APASA), sharing insights on identity and the music industry as a Filipina-American artist.
Then, the crowd shifted. Literally. As anticipation built for Don Toliver, pushing began and concert etiquette unraveled slightly. Surges continued after he hit the stage, forcing multiple pauses during his set. With stadium seats roped off, the entire audience packed into a standing-room-only pit, heightening the intensity.
Senior Katherine Harry reflected on the chaos: “I absolutely love being in the pit, but when people are rude and disrespectful, it gets to a point where you have to look out for yourself and your surroundings and just get out of there. Like I heard a guy say ‘If you’re scared, get the f— out’ which is so rude and selfish.” A slight tension hung over the first half of the set, as more students opted to move toward the back for safety.
But, once the reminders were made and the crowd rebalanced, the energy took on a better form, mosh pits and all. Don Toliver took command the moment he stepped on stage, unleashing fan favorites like “Tore Up”, “No Pole” and “Bandit”, feeding off the crowd’s hype and amplifying it in return. As expected, production didn’t hold back: sparks, smoke and bursts of fire lit up the stage with every drop. His setlist struck the perfect balance between classics and newer hits, leaving no one disappointed. The rapper was shouting out USC whenever he got the chance, pleased with the energy the crowd gave. The feeling was mutual.
At the end of the night, as students made the slow climb up the Coliseum steps, the buzz was still palpable. The night had been nothing short of a spectacle. If you weren’t looking down to avoid tripping, you might’ve looked up and realized: you just witnessed a euphoric night of music under the stars. Students lined up to buy Springfest t-shirts, what surely will now be tokens marking the first true Coliseum Springfest. More than a concert, it was a moment of pride for the Concerts Committee and attendees alike. It proved that USC students don’t just attend incredible events — they create them.
And of course, there was the familiar, end-of-night chaos on the walk back to campus: missing shoes, tattered laces, friends yelling to find each other, and the unmistakable smell of Victory Dogs waiting by the Coli exits. A victory, indeed, for USC Concerts.
