First off, I want to thank all my readers from the past three years! It’s been great writing for all you music lovers out there.

OK, so on to NovaFest.

This year was the odd pairing of Jamaican hip-hop artist Sean Kingston and emo-rockers Brand New.

As the gates opened at 8 p.m., the lines were jam-packed with a fun mix of students and strangers who couldn’t wait for the acts.

This same mob waited patiently `til 9 p.m. for Kingston to open up the set. However, Kingston owes Villanova it’s money back.

Not only was Kingston out there for about half of his set, when he was there he didn’t interact with the crowd or even move around much on stage, preferring to stand idly by a speaker and half-sing his own songs.

During the eight songs when Kingston didn’t feel like gracing us with his presence, students were subjected to the musings of the DJ playing everything but Kingston’s music.

The whole time he just kept repeating, “You almost ready for Sean Kingston to come back out?” I thought, “Why did he leave in the first place?”

Once the set was over, I made my way backstage. Surely, Kingston was sick or tired. Why else didn’t he deliver on his set? Well, as it turns out, Kingston wasn’t sick or tired, he was just plain lazy.

I could understand getting a case of the Mondays if you’re in a dead end “Office Space”-like job, but this guy gets to do something that so many people would love to do.

My interview with Kingston only confirmed my suspicions that he just plain didn’t care.

How has America been to you?

“Yeah, they been good. Colleges have been good.”

How did you like the Villanova kids?

“They were good, man.”

Yeah, that was pretty much it. Usually, any artist that loves what he or she is doing will be a little more elaborate. Usually, the artist will thank their loving fans or at least be grateful for the position he or she is in as a performer. As I stood there talking with Kingston, it became apparent that the guy just doesn’t appreciate the position he’s in, which was a little depressing.

Now on to Brand New. At least these guys delivered the goods they promised.

They came out jamming with bright lights blazing and double drums pounding.

And not surprisingly, they were out there for their entire set. Kingston could learn something from these guys.

I must confess, I’m not a huge Brand New fan by any means, but when friends told me they had a great live show, I figured I’d stick it out. The show was actually pretty good, with hard-hitting guitar work, great lightshow techniques and sometimes painful vocals.

But I do want to end on a positive note, seeing as this is my final article for The Villanovan.

To all my readers out there in the Villanova community, keep searching for great music; it’s still out there! Great music will never die so long as there are people that love it and support it. Get out to live shows, buy albums, send fan mail to artists. Thank you all for your support over these wonderful three years!