Last Friday night, singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw took a break from rehearsing for Dancing With the Stars to spend an evening performing for Gustavus’s 2012 Big Concert. An estimated 2,000 tickets were sold to students, staff, family and friends as well as the general public.

With Gustavus alumnus Justyn Dow as the opening act, concert attendees waited hours ahead of time to see Gavin DeGraw perform. Doors opened at 7:00 p.m. with a line of people extending from the front doors of the Lund Center stretching as far back as the Eckman Mall outside of Jackson Campus Center.

“When I found out that Gavin DeGraw was coming to Gustavus, I called my sisters right away, knowing that they were big Gavin DeGraw fans,” Sophomore Cedar Yang said. “We wrote down the date the tickets went on sale and got ours right away.”

“Gavin DeGraw was actually in the top 12 last fall,” Senior Concerts Executive Matt Wasson said. “He was also in the top five in January when, for the first time ever, Gustavus held on open forum to discuss options for the Big Concert.” Although many of the performers that Gustavus students had initially voted for could not make it to the Big Concert, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) had compiled a new set of artists and held the open forum.

The open forum was the deciding factor for for inviting an artist for the Big Concert, ultimately choosing to feature Gavin DeGraw.

“Although I was a little disappointed that none of the other performers could make it, I was glad we still got someone who was still well known,” Sophomore Comfort Dolo said. As a first year last year, there had been much anticipation and excitement as to who may possibly show up to Gustavus this year. “It could have been a lot worse, but I don’t think there was really anything CAB could have done to improve it. I enjoyed my time greatly and I was very satisfied with my experience; CAB did a great job setting everything up. People who didn’t go missed out.”

The Concerts Committee prepped and helped set up for the date of the show, with all of the CAB Executive Board and Concerts committee members enjoying a meet and greet with Gavin DeGraw, along with winners of passes from radio stations Cities97 and Mankato’s HOT 96.

“Gavin was a very personable guy,” Wasson said. “He had driven straight from the cities after practice. During the meet and greet, he talked to everyone and did photos and autographs.”

Although DeGraw’s dancing partner, Karina Smirnoff, was interested in making an appearance at Gustavus, she had fallen sick and therefore could not be here.