San Francisco: After classes wrapped up for the week on September 10, a group of Minerva students headed to Justin Herman Plaza near the Embarcadero for the 2015 NFL Kickoff Concert.
The concert was the kickoff to the upcoming NFL football season and is usually hosted by the defending Super Bowl champions, who this year are the New England Patriots. However, because this year is the 50th edition of Super Bowl, the kickoff event was held in San Francisco. The concert featured British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding and Train, the Grammy-winning rock band originally from San Francisco.
The event was free, open to the public and selected performances were broadcasted on national television networks. After just a 15-minute walk from the residence hall, the students blended into the huge crowd, lining up to get into the concert.
Inaugural Class Student Raymundo Gonzalez, thoroughly enjoyed the event, “We arrived early so we got to stand close to the stage. The sunny weather was also perfect for a concert.”
Train had to perform “Save me, San Francisco” twice for the national broadcast. Gonzalez theorized that it was because the lead singer Pat Monahan, was wearing a San Francisco 49ers cap and the event was sponsored by both the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders.
“The television network probably had to request Train to perform again because it was unfair for product placement of only one of the sponsors,” Gonzalez suggested.
Gonzalez’s classmate Tyler Pincus shared his enthusiasm. “This was one of my first events in the city,” Pincus shared. “The concert was near the iconic Ferry building and watching some of my favorite artists over the bay reminded me of how excited I am to be spending my first year in this beautiful city.”
Super Bowl 50 is often dubbed as the Golden Super Bowl because it is held in California, the Golden State.
Roughly 15 students attended the concert.
Photo by: Tyler Pincus