Tai Verdes to headline OUAB Buckeye Nation Concert, Ohio State musicians as opening acts

Tai Verdes poses for a portrait on the third day of Lollapalooza on July 31, 2021, at Grant Park in Chicago. Credit: Courtesy of Vashon Jordan Jr/TNS

Alternative pop musician Tai Verdes will perform at the Ohio Union Activities Board’s second-ever Buckeye Nation Concert March 26.

Verdes, known for songs largely popularized on TikTok such as “A-O-K” and “Stuck in the Middle,” will perform at the Newport Music Hall at 7 p.m., according to OUAB’s website. Pop singer-songwriter Jack Harris and alternative pop/rock group A Band Called Dreamland — all of whom are Ohio State students — will open for Verdes.

“For Welcome Back Concert last semester, we really wanted high-energy talents. We brought MAX and Waka Flocka, who both are really high-energy, upbeat talent,” Cam Shahrooz, a third-year in mechanical engineering and director of concerts for OUAB, said. “For spring, we still wanted someone who we described as ‘groovy,’ so not necessarily super high-intensity, but still high-energy.”

The Buckeye Nation Concert will serve as this semester’s spring concert and is just one free event out of several that will make up Buckeye Nation Week. The week of special programs will include a T-shirt exchange March 21, a showing of “House of Gucci” through OUAB’s Flicks for Free program March 23 and a stand-up comedy event with Ohio State University Hillel featuring comedian Ilana Glazer March 24, according to OUAB’s Instagram. 

This will be the second rendition of Buckeye Nation Week, the first of which took place in the fall of 2019. Krystal Vielman-Diaz, assistant director for OUAB, said the first week, which directly preceded Thanksgiving Break, featured guests such as American soccer player Megan Rapinoe and Cody Ko and Noel Miller of “Tiny Meat Gang.”

Also playing off of an academic break, this year’s Buckeye Nation Concert will take place immediately after spring break. Shahrooz said he hopes students will take full advantage of the first OUAB spring concert since the pandemic began.

“We’re all students planning events for students to have fun, so hopefully for coming years, we can make them bigger and better,” Shahrooz said. “This is a good start to, kind of, returning to those spring concerts, so I’m incredibly excited.”

Shahrooz said the opening acts were determined through the Buck’s Got Talent show Feb. 28. Students in attendance voted for their favorite musicians out of the six musical groups from Ohio State vying for the spring concert opening slot.

A Band Called Dreamland, which won second place at the talent show, will open the concert, while first-place winner Jack Harris — who Shahrooz said has already established a reputation on campus — will take the stage just before Verdes.

“It just shows how much he’s grown over the past couple years,” Shahrooz said. “Both acts are really entertaining, and we’re excited to see them perform more stuff at the concert in the next coming weeks.”

Although the opening acts were chosen by students, Shahrooz said Verdes was also picked with student interests in mind. OUAB often focuses on up-and-coming artists, and Shahrooz said this is to allow students to look back on concerts fondly after an artist has blown up.

“He’s one of those artists that right now people might not know by name specifically, but once they hear ‘A-O-K’ or a couple different songs, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I know this guy,’ ” Shahrooz said. “He’s super lively, he performs with the band, not just himself — really engages the crowd.”

Doors will open at 6 p.m. and admission is free, but a ticket and a valid BuckID will be required for entry. Tickets are available on OUAB’s website, and concertgoers will be admitted into the venue on a first-come, first-served basis. Masks are encouraged regardless of vaccination status, and there will be no bags allowed in the venue, according to the event page.