Bryce Vine lights up the JCP

 The “Drew Barrymore” star headlines Big Blue Bash

Celina Tebor / Managing Editor / The USD Vista

Rising music star Bryce Vine has made bounds in popularity within the past year, and the University of San Diego hopped on the opportunity to have him as the headliner for Homecoming and Family Weekend’s Big Blue Bash concert last weekend.

Before Bryce Vine took the stage, California rapper Luke Christopher warmed the crowd up with his upbeat vibes. At just 26-years-old, Christopher has been creating music since he was 13-years-old. Students bopped to Christopher’s hit song “Lot to Learn” and gave an impressive show for an eager audience. After his time on stage came to a close, the crowd geared up for the much-anticipated headliner.

Students found out who the mysterious headliner was through Instagram, as the Torero Program Board (TPB) posted a clue every hour hinting at the artist. Toreros quickly figured out the headliner would be Vine, as the pattern on one of TPB’s clues matched a shirt Vine was wearing in one of his Instagram posts.

Although this was the first time USD hosted Vine for a concert, he’s no stranger to San Diego. Growing up in Los Angeles meant that he visited the city frequently when he was younger — his mom even took him to the dentist in Tijuana sometimes.

“I have a lot of good memories out here,” Vine said. “It’s always a tour stop.”

Vine’s first big break was his hit single “Drew Barrymore,” which was released in 2017 and has over 150 million streams on Spotify. However, his name became even more recognizable with the recently released “La La Land,” in 2019. 

“For years we couldn’t even sell 20 tickets for a show,” Vine said. “And the last time we were (in San Diego), we sold Soma out, and it was the first sign things were really improving.”

Even though his fame is new, performing in front of a crowd is not. He started writing songs when he was 13 and always knew he wanted to be in the music industry. Although he used to get stage fright before performing when he was younger, he now feeds off the energy of the crowd at concerts and no longer gets nervous.

Vine always knew he had a path in music, but it was hard for him to grasp what his future might be like and the fame he would hold.

“You see little visions of it, but you never see what it’s like realistically,” Vine said. “It’s so much better when it’s real.”

Vine’s performance in the Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP) Friday night was captivating. Although lip syncing during concerts has become more commonplace and even accepted in the music industry, Vine stayed old school and performed live. His breaths for air and even the breaks in his voice were refreshing to hear, and added character to every song he sang. He also had a live band consisting of a guitarist, a trumpeter, and a drummer.

His setlist contained his biggest hits like “Drew Barrymore” and “Sour Patch Kids,” and he also sang some of his lesser-known pieces, like “Glamorama” and “Factory Love.” It was evident which songs Toreros knew, as the crowd grew louder and pushed closer to the stage when he performed his most popular songs.

Vine’s dad and grandfather always played jazz for him when he was a child, and this influence was clear in his performance as his trumpeter had two solos, one of which closed off the night while the crowd begged for an encore. 

In fact, his music and performance combined a unique mix of musical genres. Vine considers his music a mix of pop and rap, and said record labels didn’t understand his genre-bending style until recently, when artists like Post Malone came into the limelight showcasing the fusion. 

Vine’s performance also had punk influence, which could be easily observed through his vocal-shouting and headbanging when he was singing, as well as his guitarist’s punk-style riffs. He played in a punk band in high school, and cites Green Day and Third Eye Blind as some of his favorite bands. 

Many of his songs revolve around life in fame and living in Los Angeles, but he has a love-hate relationship with the city. He showcases this through many of his song lyrics: for example, his chorus in “La La Land” repeatedly features the line, “waste your time with me in California.”

“It is an entertainment city, so that’s what everyone’s trying to do,” Vine said. “So you have a lot of the same conversations with people that are models or actors or musicians, and everyone’s in for themselves for the same reason too.”

He loves the city for some of the same reasons he sometimes has disdain for it.

“I love LA,” Vine said. “It’s the hub of entertainment, which means it’s also the hub of creativity, and everyone passes through there. It’s an inspiring city, and there’s palm trees everywhere, and it’s sunny, and it’s a great environment to write my kind of music in. Yeah, I do have a love-hate relationship with it.”

Vine finished playing his college tour this spring, and said performing in front of college students helps keep him up-to-date on what younger people are interested in.

“(College students) just have energy,” Vine said. “And it’s fun to meet them, it’s nice to see what they’re doing because I’m not in college anymore. The only direct experience I have around young people now is going and playing at colleges. What they’re listening to, what they’re excited about, what careers they’re interested in because there’s so many more options now.”

Sophomore Andrew Tolentino was one of the many Toreros captivated by Vine’s performance.

“He’s very friendly,” Tolentino said. “He was interactive with the audience all the time, he was making us feel like we’re actually present and I hope to see more of him in the future.”

As Vine’s popularity grows, so does his influence. While some artists want to be known for their crazy performances or revolutionary music, Vine wants his music to mean something simple to his fans.

“I want people to just feel better,” Vine said. “I like having a room of people who are just relieving their own stresses with me at the same time. I like to bring people together. My whole family is that way. They always were very welcoming of people and all different cultures, and that’s how they brought people together and that’s how they showed love. So music is my way of doing that.”

The crowd stayed upbeat even after Vine exited off the stage, buzzing after such an exciting concert. Students continued to belt Snakehips’ “All My Friends,” while walking out of the JCP which the DJ played after the concert ended, even after the music was out of earshot and long after Vine had finished his performance.