The tightly-packed crowd jumped up and down with the Lost Kings last February, dancing along to smooth vocals, airy drum hits, and a blaring house bassline. Deerfield came alive for the massive concert, and the beat still rang in students’ ears coming out of the Dining Hall that night. This year’s concert enjoyed similar success. On February 10, Deerfield brought to campus Prince Fox, a DJ from Manhattan. He gained fame soon after remixing songs for 3LAU, Cazzette, and SNBRN. Notably, he has collaborated with Hailee Steinfeld for his song “Fragile,” and Bella Thorne for “Just Call.”
Claire Koeppel ’18, an officer of the Student Planning Committee, spearheaded the effort to bring Prince Fox to Deerfield, as she did with Lost Kings last year. “I knew of Prince Fox since I’ve been following his SoundCloud and listening to his music for a while now,” she said. “I think he has a lot of potential to rise in the music industry.”
Credit: Hollin Hanau
Working with the same entertainment manager as last year to bring Prince Fox, Koeppel mentioned that the agency actually asked her to do the concert again due to a largely positive feedback from Lost Kings. “The agency gave us two lists of people. One list included artists like Fetty Wap and the Chainsmokers, and the other included lesser-known artists like Prince Fox.” The school ultimately chose to vet artists from the latter list to maintain a budget of around $20,000.
While Koeppel influenced much of the planning and decision-making, Student Activities Coordinator Brian Barbato helped to test out the music and contact the manager.
“Lost Kings was the most well-attended event our school has ever had, so we’re excited to continue this every year,” said Mr. Barbato. “Looking forward, we’re open to expanding the variety of talent. We’d like to open the selection process up to a vote, even.”
One concern Mr. Barbato shared was that switching to different genres might make keeping the language clean more challenging.
Not only did Prince Fox deliver a stand-out performance, but Head of School Day was also announced in a video from Head of School Margarita Curtis and the Student Life Office at the concert. Students reacted overwhelmingly positively, feeling they needed some respite from school.
Sydney Gregg ’20 said, “Lost Kings last year was really fun but once we settled in to Prince Fox, I had a great time as well. I could do that all night.”
Nikita Pelletier ’20 said, “In the future, I’d be open to something more alternative.”
Hollin Hanau ’18 added, “I may or may not have a crush on Prince Fox now.”