Aminé jumping on stage to cheers from the audience. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
The 45th Extravaganza music festival took place on May 18, drawing in a large student-only crowd to watch headlining DJ Chris Lake and supporting acts Aminé, Ravyn Lenae, Snow Strippers and Zacari perform on the Harder Stadium stage.
Extravaganza is organized and run by student members of UC Santa Barbara’s Associated Students Program Board (ASPB). This year’s festival was titled “Camp X,” taking on an outdoorsy theme.
Camp X got off to a rocky start. Following the festival lineup reveal on May 8, students responded with mixed reception, expressing disappointment over the performers selected. This disappointment was quickly dispelled by the announcement that rapper Trippie Redd would be performing at the festival on the ASPB Instagram the following day.
At 11:40 a.m. on the morning of the festival, ASPB announced that Redd would not be performing at Extravaganza due to “[unforeseen] circumstances,” and that rapper Aminé would be replacing him on the lineup.
According to ASPB Special Events Coordinator and fourth-year communication major Grace Freese, Redd dropped from the festival on Saturday evening around 5 p.m. While Redd and his team accepted ASPB’s offer letter, as well as confirmed and fully negotiated his contract, it had not been signed. Freese clarified that this is not an uncommon practice when booking an artist — multiple artists have signed contracts on-site.
After Redd dropped, ASPB was able to get in contact with a college agent from Wasserman Music, an agency that represents a variety of artists, including Aminé. The rapper happened to be performing Sunday night in Los Angeles, which made the quick turnaround time possible.
ASPB confirmed Aminé late Saturday night, but was unable to announce him until the next day, as they were finalizing paperwork. “Literally the second that we could announce and tell the public, we did,” Freese said.
“It was a mix of hard work and being lucky that there was people that wanted the lineup to be successful for us, and wanted us to have a successful replacement,” Freese said.
Amidst the last-minute lineup chaos, ASPB opened the gates to Camp X at Harder Stadium at around 1 p.m. Students were greeted with an opening DJ act by ASPB Battle of the DJs winner and third-year computer science major Steven Jiang, who performs under the name Stavensuniverse. Also present on the festival grounds were multiple food vendors, a bouncy castle and mobile miniature golf courses.
2025’s festival festival was titled “Camp X,” taking on an outdoorsy theme. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
The first performer of the day, singer-songwriter and rapper Zacari took the stage at 1:30 p.m. Known for his feature on Kendrick Lamar’s “LOVE.” and his work on the “Black Panther” album, Zacari’s set consisted of many of his originals as well as his collaborations with other notable artists.
Accompanied by his full band, Zacari danced and swayed as he sang and encouraged the audience to do the same. Many could be seen reciprocating his energy in the crowd. During his set, students also discovered that ASPB had put mini bubble wands in the free tote bags they were handing out. As a result, an abundance of bubbles began floating in the air, amping up the excitement in the crowd.
Zacari’s family was also in attendance, dancing through his entire set. The most vibrant dance and hype woman was his mother, Ede Pacaldo.
“He’s just so confident, never nervous,” Pacaldo said. “He just gets out there and [performs].”
Zacari opening the show. The R&B artist is known for his feature on Kendrick Lamar’s “LOVE.” and his work on the “Black Panther” album. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
Zacari ended his set with “Redemption” from the “Black Panther” soundtrack. As he sang, “Everybody say kikiritikiki,” the crowd of students chanted “kikiritikiki” back at him. Even with his more relaxed and soulful sound, Zacari energized the audience and built up excitement for the rest of the performers.
Snow Strippers came on stage at 2:15 p.m., about 25 minutes later than their intended performance time. Running onto the stage in a vibrant red jacket, Graham Perez, DJ and one half of Snow Strippers, kicked off the electronic pop duo’s set with “Aching Like It’s.”
After a few moments of letting the intro play, the other half of Snow Strippers, Tatiana Schwaninger, entered the stage singing. Almost as if she were internalizing the beat of the song, Schwaninger began interpretive dancing while Perez ran across the stage, jumping up and down as the audience cheered in response.
Snow Strippers is an EDM duo credited with being part of the indie sleaze revival of the early 2020s. The pair gravitates towards performing at festivals, recently playing at Coachella — making them the perfect pair to electrify UCSB students in the audience.
Snow Strippers consists of singer Tatiana Schwaninger (L) and DJ Graham Perez (R). The EDM duo are credited with being part of the indie sleaze revival. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
The duo had one of the best stage presences of this year’s festival. Despite their songs relying heavily on electronic beats, Snow Strippers kept it lively onstage throughout their set. From Schwaninger’s funky dance moves to Perez’s constant sprinting and occasional ad-libs into the microphone, Snow Strippers put on an amusing show.
Their energy onstage projected onto the crowd as the duo performed “Passionate Highs.” One student could be seen riding the shoulders of a friend before a security guard told them to get down. That, however, only inspired more students to try it out throughout the rest of the festival.
“That’s all, bruh, have fun this summer, for real,” Perez said as his final remark to the crowd.
Schwaninger running to greet fans in the crowd. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
Both Schwaninger and Perez jumped off the Extravaganza stage and made their way to the audience, high-fiving and talking with the students standing at the barricade. Spirits were high amongst the crowd as Snow Strippers ran backstage, officially ending their set.
R&B artist Ravyn Lenae was up next. Lenae rose to mainstream prominence with her viral song “Love Me Not,” the single from her 2024 critically acclaimed album “Bird’s Eye.” Since then, Lenae has been making waves in the modern R&B world, performing her Coachella debut in April and announcing that she will be joining pop artist Sabrina Carpenter on her Short n’ Sweet Tour in November.
Dressed in black leather pants and a T-shirt, the singer walked out, waving to the crowd of Gauchos. On the stage was a single microphone stand — no band, backup singers or DJ behind her — meaning that the audience was in for a more intimate, one-on-one performance than the previous sets.
Ravyn Lenae waving to the crowd. (Shiuan Cheng)
“Santa Barbara!” Lenae yelled as she got to the microphone, waving one hand in the air. “You ready?”
As the crowd hollered in response, Lenae opened her set with “1 of 1.” The singer danced across the stage, pointing one hand in the air as she snaked her hips to the beat, the crowd cheering her on.
“All of you beautiful people today, y’all look so good!” Lenae said, addressing the crowd. “The sun is shining … we’re gonna have a really good time today, alright?”
Lenae’s performance took on a slower vibe compared to the high-energy performers before her. While this made audience response to her set lackluster at times, her powerful vocals and undeniable talent helped make up for the occasional lack of energy from the crowd.
“This is one of the most important songs I’ve ever written,” Lenae said, leading into “One Wish.” Clips from the song’s accompanying music video played in the background as she passionately sang into the mic, harmonizing with her backing track to make for a fuller sound.
With only one song left in Lenae’s set, the audience murmured with excitement over the highly anticipated closing song, ”Love Me Not.” Lenae more than delivered.
The R&B performer rose to mainstream prominence with her viral hit “Love Me Not.” (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
“You’re gonna give me something on this one!” Lenae said, as the instrumentals of the song began, raising her hands in the air to lead the crowd in jumping. The crowd raised their hands in response, chanting and dancing along to the lyrics.
Lenae ran across the stage, holding out her microphone to let the audience have a moment to shine. Standing center stage, she held her arms out and beamed as the crowd yelled the lyrics “He loves me not, he loves me / He holds me tight, then lets me go” back at her.
The singer gave one last belt into the mic before waving at the crowd, taking a bow and walking offstage, glowing under the sun.
While there were murmurs of excitement about the upcoming performer, the raging heat and delayed set times made members of the audience grow antsy, the festival now running about 40 minutes behind. Scattered throughout the crowd were complaints about the heat and when the next act would begin. Members of ASPB and security guards began passing out water to crowd members due to the hot weather. ASPB lifted water jugs over the barricade crowd, refilling the complimentary orange water bottles handed out at the festival.
At around 4:20 p.m., DJ MadisonLST, the tour DJ for Aminé, approached the table on the stage. MadisonLST’s presence was much appreciated, re-energizing the crowd and dispelling any exhaustion with an eclectic, high-powered mix for the next eight minutes.
Aminé then exploded onto the stage, bouncing and running to roars of cheers. Sunglasses on and energy to the max, Aminé opened his set with “Familiar” from his 2025 album “13 Months of Sunshine,” which came out two days prior to the festival on May 16. This was the rapper’s second time performing at Extravaganza, having previously performed in 2019.
Aminé served as a last-minute replacement for fellow rapper Trippie Redd. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
“Bounce! Bounce!” MadisonLST yelled into the microphone as Aminé ran across the stage, waving a yellow bandana and jumping to the rhythm.
After “Familiar” ended, Aminé took a few moments to address his last-minute appearance on the setlist.
“I was chilling on my couch hungover yesterday, ‘cause I just dropped the album two days ago,” Aminé said. “And then UCSB called me. They was like, ‘Yo, could you pull up?,’ and I was like ‘Of course!’”
“Y’all getting some of these new songs off the album for the first time,” Aminé said, to the excitement of the crowd.
Aminé continued to address the crowd. “I like to make people feel sexy. So, when I say ‘You’re beautiful,’ you say ‘I know!’” he said, instructing the crowd in a call and response. This crowd interaction continued throughout the rapper’s set — either Aminé or MadisonLST would yell “You’re beautiful!” into the microphone, and students would respond with, “I know!”
Aminé and DJ MadisonLST hyping up the crowd. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
Aminé was constantly in motion, jumping across the stage and dancing to the instrumental tracks played by MadisonLST. He also regularly addressed the crowd through spoken, candid ad-libs during and between songs, at one point even asking the crowd, “Am I a good replacement?” The loud cheers and whistles in response indicated that to UCSB students, Aminé’s presence was much appreciated and loved.
Students were particularly excited for the rapper’s performance of “Caroline,” with many knowing the lyrics and singing along with him. At the end of the song, the crowd sang the ending verse back to Aminé — a heartwarming representation of their connection to the singer.
Aminé ended his set with “REEL IT IN,” which had the crowd chanting lyrics “Bitch I’m the news, CNN” with the artist. As the song wrapped, he took one last opportunity to address the audience, thanking MadisonLST and plugging his new album once more.
Before exiting the stage, Aminé did one final call-out. “You’re beautiful!” he shouted into the microphone.
“I KNOW!” the crowd yelled back in response.
While the audience did not expect to see Aminé on the Extravaganza stage, the rapper did not disappoint. His electrifying stage presence and infectious energy made him the artist to watch, making him the clear standout of the festival.
Anticipation was high in the Gauchos-only audience as students eagerly awaited the headlining performance. Chris Lake, known for his popular remixes and high-energy stage presence, maintains a large presence in the EDM world and specializes in house music. With a career spanning over 20 years and a Grammy nomination under his belt, his music was well-known across members of the audience — multiple exclamations of excitement filled the crowd for the performance to come.
As the English DJ approached the table, he waved, wolf-whistled to the crowd and dived into his first track, “Toxic.” Lake mixed from the table as the crowd danced along to a remix of “Poison,” occasionally doing a “whoop, whoop!” in unison.
Headliner Chris Lake, known for his popular remixes and high-energy stage presence, maintains a large presence in the EDM world and specializes in house music. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
Audience members managed to bring the inflatable pool floaties (which were originally used as decoration by ASPB) into the crowd, throwing them around and occasionally hoisting people onto them. Multiple audience members also got on the shoulders of others for a chance at a better view of the stage. This was the start of a rowdier-than-usual crowd and security intervention — at one point, two guards had to reach in and pull away a large yellow duck floatie from the crowd.
Lake continued to remix popular and contemporary tracks, such as “Messy” by Lola Young and “Girls” by The Dare. These tracks were a hit among the young audience, as many chanted along to the lyrics while jumping to the beat.
After playing “Percolator,” Lake took a moment to address the crowd.
“Yo, UCSB, how’re you doing today?,” Lake said into the microphone. “Fuck, this is cool. You guys are awesome, thank you!”
Students hoisting an audience member up on a pool floatie during Lake’s set. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
A member of Lake’s crew brought out a bubble gun during “Somebody,” Lake’s remix of “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye, coming out into the crowd with Lake’s videographer. The two sprayed bubbles into the audience as students danced along.
During “Psycho,” which was played at the request of multiple audience members, a rainbow tarp parachute was lifted over the crowd. In addition to the bubbles from earlier, the tarp gave Lake’s set a playful and outdoorsy feel, perfect for the Camp X theme.
While Lake’s remix of “Take It Off” by Fisher was intended to be the closing song, the audience was not ready to let the DJ go, chanting “One more song! One more song!”
After some playful hesitation, Lake gave in, reapproaching the DJ table to perform a remix of “Fine Night” by Cloonee as an encore. Students roared with excitement, forming a mosh in the middle of the crowd to celebrate the final song of Extravaganza 2025.
Lake smiling at the crowd. (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
Lake thanked the crowd and waved farewell, exiting the stage to screams of applause. Freese then took to the stage to thank the performers and crowd members for a good time, and encouraged audience members to stay and help clean up Harder Stadium.
As students left the crowd, Lake reemerged at the side barricade to greet several lucky fans. Members of the crowd ran back to the stage, cheering and hollering for a chance to meet the DJ and indicating that the Camp X energy was still alive and well.
Reception to the 45th Extravaganza was mixed. Many students took to the anonymous social networking site Yik Yak to express their disappointment with the festival. While often taking on a humorous tone, comments reflect an overall frustration towards ASPB, with one user posting “aspb i’m expecting better next year… or imma become president just to defund you guys.” Another post read, “i think WE deserve an apology from aspb.”
However, other students had a more positive experience at the festival. To third-year political science student Cormac Roethler, the performance by Lenae particularly stood out to him.
“[Lenae is] definitely the one that stuck out to me the most, by far. I had never heard her before, but her performance was excellent, to say the least,” he said.
Roethler also commented on the rowdiness of the crowd. “I think the only negative thing I remember talking about was the general concert etiquette of the people there,” Roethler said. “But no one can control that.”
Students enjoying the festival (Shiuan Cheng / Daily Nexus)
For Freese, the biggest takeaway from her experience organizing 2025’s festival was contributing to the long history of Extravaganza and UCSB.
“So much of the importance of Extravaganza is being a part of the history of the school and putting on the event,” Freese said.
She also highlighted the opportunity to watch up-and-coming artists perform live, giving students a chance to see someone before they blow up. “Lenae could be literally the biggest artist by the end of the year, and you just saw her for free. It’s amazing, it’s iconic,” Freese said.
“I think the music itself was super, super fun, and I’m glad that people were able to come out and enjoy it,” she continued. “I’m super proud of my team for being able to put it on.”
A version of this article appeared on pg. 1 of the May 22 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
