The Lantern The student voice of The Ohio State University
There were no barstools, but it’s quite plausible many people blacked out, and one person was arrested.
The Barstool Blackout Tour stopped in Columbus to perform for a sold-out crowd at the Newport Music Hall Saturday. A total of 1,400 tickets were sold.
After three nights “blacking out” in the southwestern region of the state at the University of Cincinnati and Miami University, the tour headed north to Columbus.
DJ Dante the Don, a DJ for Barstool Sports and official DJ for the Chicago Bulls and musician Sam Adams, said there were low expectations for the parties around Cincinnati and Ohio in general.
“Our expectations were so low (for Cincinnati),” Dante said. “It was f—ing crazy — one of the best shows we’ve done. It’s the best job in the world, (to) command now thousands of people. It’s a feeling you can’t describe.”
It got so crazy in Columbus, in fact, that one person was arrested.
The event ended with police being called to remove some belligerently intoxicated underage attendees, said Sgt. Patrick Shaffer of the Columbus Division of Police.
More than 10 citations were issued for underage drinking. One person was taken into custody for resisting arrest, but Shaffer did not know if the person arrested was an Ohio State student.
The night started off slowly but lively. Attendees began trickling in the doors about 9:30 p.m. clad in tight white and neon clothing, many with shirts reading “Viva La Stool.”
Clusters of dancing friends bounced around to various club mixes waiting for the house to fill up.
Dallas Hartman and two of his friends, all Carnegie Mellon University students, traveled from Pittsburgh to attend.
He and his friends said it was worth the five-hour drive.
“It just looked like a really good time,” Hartman said.
Dante took the stage at about 11 p.m. By then, the crowd was in full force ready to kick off the night. Confetti dropped from the ceiling as men dressed in astronaut costumes shot CO2 offstage and the crowd began to rage.
Dante’s mixes sampled a variety of music, including songs by Kreayshawn, Kid Cudi, Kanye West and Nirvana.
“Hypemen” and “hypegirls” kept the energy high, dancing on stage and tossing glow sticks into the crowd.
The finale rounded out the self-proclaimed “World’s Biggest Blacklight Party” with “Hang On Sloopy” and
“Shout,” as more confetti and balloons fell into the crowd.
Host and coordinator Tom Theewis said he was excited to bring the tour to OSU.
“I just want everybody to have a good time,” Theewis said. “Honestly, that’s why I brought it here.”
Many students came because of the videos they had seen on YouTube and the Barstool U website.
Jared Oing, a third-year in nursing, said “it looked fun as hell.”
The Blackout tour was started by Barstool Sports, a website that specializes in ordinary guys writing about things that ordinary guys would care about. Since the website began, it has branched out and now has sites focused on news in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and one for universities.
