Jared Mahone and his band came up from Columbus to jam for students relaxing on the union oval as Friday afternoon drew to a close.

While his band was setting up, Jared Mahone noted that he’s been playing his music at college campuses for a while. “I’ve been doing it for nine years now,” he said. He specializes in a chill and relaxing style, describing it as “a scene in Columbus of cats all doing a similar sound called Garage Soul.”

He said that it’s not Garage Rock, and it’s not soul music, but has elements of both genres in it.

Crowds during the performance enjoyed the relaxed nature of the music. “I love it, a lot of people are coming out and chilling out,” said Tyler Drake, a freshman accounting major who attended the concert. Tyler Drake was positive about opening weekend. “So far it’s been pretty amazing. There’s a lot of activities – you’ll never get bored.”

Matthew Nolan, a junior psychology major and a 2018 orientation leader said, “There’s a lot of great things opening weekend offers.”

He divided the events into two categories. The first category, social events, included the showing “Avengers: Infinity War” from the Marvel series, hypnotist Dale K, and magician Michael Kent.

The second category, academic events, included mandatory events such as First Class Session and Get with the Program that helped freshmen get acquainted with their academic life. He said that the social events were great to do with take from a residence hall, and academic programs were great to take with people from your major.

Nolan also discussed career opportunities for incoming freshmen, like HIRE Education which teaches students about their employment opportunities. Other resources that the University provides to help students improve their career include Handshake, Career Center and Student Employment Services.

Nolan said that Welcome Week would follow Welcome Weekend starting this Monday. He noted that Campus fest on Tuesday would be a great way for students to get involved, stating that it was a “great way for students to get involved an informal setting.”

He recommended that students who weren’t sure what they wanted to do “go into it with an open mind” and to talk to as many student organizations as possible. He also recommended connecting with interesting student organizations on Orgsync and social media after Campus Fest had ended.

According to an Office of Campus Activities webpage over 300 organizations attend Campus Fest each year.