While football-throwing, frisbee-catching and beer-drinking might've best characterized a sun-soaked Great Lawn Saturday afternoon, the annual SpringFest-which featured an eclectic lineup of national acts and campus bands-delighted a mid-sized crowd in what was perhaps students' last chance to enjoy the outdoors before the onslaught of finals arrives. Campus band The Edition played a very deft set in the early afternoon. Their songs-often lounge-derived blues music with noodling solos and long keyboard grooves-worked well as a background quilt to all the revelries going on under the sun.

Influential West Coast hip-hop ensemble The Pharcyde came next. Although old by rap standards, they energized the small crowd and kept the afternoon's mood relaxed, reflecting the sunny weather. The group consistently interacted with their audience, leading call-and-response chants and bringing fans onstage.

Much to the fans' delight, the group played a slightly extended set; although they attempted to end the show several times after reminding the crowd that they were only the opening act, they acquiesced to the audience and played several extra songs.

Dedicating their set to the late comedian Mitch Hedberg, venerable yuksters The Presidents of the United States of America headlined the afternoon. They seemed removed from a bygone era-a time when most Brandeis students were still in elementary school, and when having your song covered by "Weird Al" Yankovic was a sign of overwhelming commercial success.

Amazingly, during the Presidents' hour-and-then-some-long set, most of the crowd was seen singing along to all the older songs. The rockers were as energetic in concert today as they sounded on the post-grunge, pop-punk inspired tunes of their first two platinum-selling albums. From bunny-jumping on stage during "Dune Buggy" to expressing approval for Ollie the Owl, The Presidents seemed at home playing in front of the Shapiro Campus Center, even treating fans to cheery, off-kilter between-song banter and odd jokes about squirrels and raspberries.

The set's highlights included most of the classic songs from their first album, including "Kitty," "Lump" and the now-classic "Peaches." The Presidents knew how to order their set list, spreading fan-favorites among old album tracks, new singles and covers. An expansive medley of classic covers included Joan Jett's "Heartbreaker," The Car's "Good Times Roll," Oasis' "Wonderwall" and The Ramones' "I Wanna be Sedated," finally concluding with their hit rendition of The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." The Presidents might not be a band who can play "Free Bird"-especially seeing how there are only five strings between "gitbassist" Dave Dederer and "bassitarist" Chris Ballew-but their upbeat, fun set kept the crowd engaged, proving to be a surprisingly nice conclusion to a beautiful day on Shapiro Lawn.