Summerlands, the annual spring concert organized by the Associated Students of UCI (ASUCI) returned to Aldrich Park on May 15.
The headliner for this year was Ravyn Lenae, a Chicago based singer-songwriter, most popular for her recent hit “Love me not.” The midliner was greek from Martinsville, Virginia, whose sound seamlessly blends alternative R&B, pop and soul. The concert also featured two student performers: DJ London Michelle and Mariachi Orgullo de UCI, as opening acts.
Doors opened at 4 p.m., with several students lining up even earlier. There were interactive stations like a friendship bracelet booth, two photobooths and a merch booth that gave out shirts, stickers and postcards. Vendors such as Burnt food truck, Dogzilla food truck and Alani energy drinks were also set up.
According to the ASUCI organizing team, the theme for Summerlands this year was vintage travel and tourism, which was reflected in their postcard-style text logo featured on the t-shirts and other marketing materials that were designed to look like boarding passes.
“Summerlands is our annual spring concert to wrap up the academic year before summer break, so we always try to incorporate ‘summer-y’ elements when designing a theme and selecting artists, typically focusing on R&B and indie artists,” ASUCI Concert Engagement Commissioners Myah Gibbs and Lyla Agarwala wrote in an email to New University. “This contrasts Aldrich Park After Dark (APAD), our fall Welcome Week concert to kick off the academic year that typically features hip-hop/rap and EDM music.”
Student performers opened the concert, beginning with DJ London Michelle. She found the application for Summerlands through ASUCI’s Instagram page and submitted a five-minute audition tape featuring mashups and remixes.
Michelle told New University that she approached her set with variety in mind. “I wanted [my set] to be multicultural,” she said, adding that she built her mix around R&B, reggaeton, Afrobeats and pop.
The concert followed a set by Mariachi Orgullo de UCI, the university’s first official mariachi ensemble.
Brenda Torres, the group’s founder and president, told New University that the ensemble had grown from a small hobby-based group into a larger campus organization that now performs at major university and community events.
“We were a little nervous, but more than anything, we were very honored to be a part of such a big event where many students attend. And it was just, you know, a lot of pride to be able to represent our Latino community,’’ Torres told New University.
Torres said the group was initially unsure how receptive the Summerlands audience would be with traditional mariachi music. Still, she said, the band decided to apply this year and was ultimately “very honored” to be part of one of UCI’s largest annual concerts.
To prepare for the performance, Torres said the group intentionally selected songs that would appeal to both students familiar with mariachi and those hearing it live for the first time. In addition to traditional Mexican songs, the group incorporated English-language arrangements and more upbeat selections in an effort to keep the crowd engaged.
Annalis Pulido, a singer and social media chair for the group, told New University that the members wanted to make sure students from different backgrounds could still connect with the performance, even if they were unfamiliar with the genre. Pulido said the performance was valuable not only as a showcase for the group, but also as a chance to share mariachi with a broader campus audience.
Greek, the midliner, followed these opening acts and mostly received positive feedback. Ellis Park, a second-year computer science student, said greek was one of the most memorable performers of the night.
“That guy greek was pretty cool,” Park said. He added that the artist’s set offered “a cool mix of maybe R&B-style vocals with a more guitar-heavy mix.”
Ravyn Lenae’s headlining set also drew positive reactions from attendees, including students who were not initially familiar with her music.
Sofia Bello, first-year criminology, law and society major, said Lenae stood out to her for both her stage presence and overall presentation.
“I really liked Ravyn because I loved her outfit. I’m a big fashion girly, and so I thought her outfit was really cute, and the lighting hitting it was really cute, and she had her hair done, and she just seemed so happy to be there,” Bello told New University. “She was dancing the whole time. And, yeah, I really loved her performance.”
Similar to last year, more than 5,000 students signed up for the event, according to Campus Groups, but several attendees and performers noted that the crowd seemed smaller than usual.
“I do think that attendance was lower than APAD just because … not too many people knew who the artists were,” Bello said.
Park said he had seen similar reactions online, where some students compared the lineup unfavorably to past campus concerts.
“Like even we saw last year, we have more indie and rock kind of artists and people definitely aren’t as into that,” Park said. “I would call them guitar phobic, honestly. So definitely like more of a hip-hop oriented crowd here.”
Brinda Popli is a News Intern for the spring 2026 Quarter. She can be reached at bpopli@uci.edu
Edited by Tracy Sandoval