Friday night’s “Back in the Rhythm” kicked off the semester for Student Life’s Noise Complaint dance party with over 300 students at the Cesar Chavez Student Center.
The monthly gathering, which started in Fall 2010, kicked off with a late night of hip-hop, top 40 and electronic dance music.
Students began trickling in at 10 p.m., propping themselves up against the gates at Café 101 and Natural Sensations in small groups. A handful of students, clad in street wear and doused in pulsing red, blue and green stage lights, took to the dance floor to start the party. Others followed and after a while no one was immune to DJ Andre Camaisa’s trembling electronic bass drops and classic hyphy remixes.
“This crowd really goes up and down,” said Camaisa. “Sometimes you get kids that just want to fist pump, and sometimes you get the real ratchets who are down for the hyphy stuff. This crowd tonight wants everything.”
Camaisa has been performing at Noise Complaint since 2011. Since then, he’s won Red Bull’s College DJ Freestyle Battle at Manor West and has been dubbed the premier college DJ in the Bay Area. He has secured residencies at a handful of San Francisco’s nightclubs in the SOMA district, including the Monarch, Alibi and Manor West.
“When you play for this kind of crowd you can’t pull out all of your club game,” he said. “You’ve got to stay on top of your hits.”
Freshman Arturo Gomez approved. “It’s been really fun,” he said of his first Noise Complaint experience. “I live on campus and its great to have something so close (to home).”
“(Noise Complaint) has been a really productive, healthy event for the kids to enjoy,” said University Police Officer Abe Leal, who was one of a handful of UPD officers working security for the event. “It’s an outlet for them to do something without getting on the bus; it’s good clean fun.”
“It’s never been the students who are the problem,” he said. “It’s been people that don’t go here, sneaking in the back that have been an issue.”
Since Noise Complaint started four years ago, there haven’t been any serious issues, according to Director of Student Involvement Sarah Bauer.
Camaisa said he is excited about the next installment of Noise Complaint, which will be held in the Annex, where Bauer said that most events will be held moving forward.
“The Annex has been under construction to become the Student Life Events Center and is almost ready,” Bauer said. However, due to the Science Building closure, there will be some limitations on using the Annex this semester, she said.
