"Who is A-Trak?" many students asked after the name began to float around Brandeis during the early weeks of the semester. If you were one of the lucky 700 to nab a ticket to Student Events' Winter Concert, you will never ask that question again.
Born Alain Macklovitch in Montreal, A-Trak gained recognition in New York as a young musician after winning several disc jockey competitions.

He eventually created his own label, Fool's Gold and, while touring with Kanye West as his personal DJ, contributed to several of the rap superstar's studio albums including 2007's Graduation, which is high- lighted by the world-famous single, "Stronger."
On Dec. 30, 2012, Student Events created the Facebook group "WINTER CONCERT: A New Year's Resolution," and invited the entire student body to Levin Ballroom on Saturday, Dec. 26. However, to in- crease suspense, Student Events al- lowed a day or so of buildup before announcing that DJ A-Trak would be headlining the evening.

Quickly after tickets went on sale, the concert sold out, creating a near- frenzy for any resales. Many students bought tickets from friends at inflated prices.
Student Events Concert Coordinator Benjamin Bernstein '15 responded to the overwhelming demand for entry to the show. "This was the first time in years we sold out Levin [Ballroom]," he said. Reacting to the heightened success of this year's Winter Concert,

Bernstein explained, "This year we wanted to do something unprecedented and make the Levin Ballroom into a real concert venue. Watching from the balcony, I felt like we were at the House of Blues."

The entire audience really got moving thanks to every song's hard-pumping bass and blares of "A-Trak" and "Fool's Gold"s. Levin became a raving party filled with
hundreds of sweaty kids dancing and having an absolute blast. No one was standing still; no one looked glum. Danny Lubarsky '16, said, "[A- Trak created a] really good environ- ment the whole time. There were never awkward moments of silence- solid transitions between songs. He worked the crowd well."

The bustling audience was defi- nitely not disappointed. The jockey has clearly mastered the ability to select fabulous dance music and manipulate it live on stage, with an elaborate setup to make his perfor- mance edgier and more exciting. A-Trak uses more than the minimal computer setup that the mainstream electronic dance music DJ employs.
A-Trak goes hard on stage, spinning and scratching his records on turntables like a madman, changing the pace of songs, dropping the bass on his own command on top of pretty much every other move in the book.

The DJ also had an incredible ca- pacity to captivate and control the crowd, interacting so closely that he ran into the front row, high-fiving anyone who was able reach the stage.
Possibly the strongest moment of the DJ's set was the late and extend- ed version of "Barbra Streisand," one of A-Trak's biggest hits, which he recorded with his former group, Duck Sauce. Since the entire audience most likely was familiar with the huge single, A-Trak closed on an incredibly strong note.

Noah Litwer '15 left having enjoyed himself tremendously. "It was the first time I've gone to a Brandeis concert and had fun the entire time." However, some of the older members of the crowd were somewhat turned off by the mass of underclassmen partying hard.
The messy handling of the post- concert coat return definitely did not help the situation.

Nonetheless, the majority of concertgoers raved about their tremendously fun Saturday night. Matthew Schwartz '15 summed it all up by claiming, "A- Trak has a solid 5:5 chill:pull ratio." Can you ask for anything more?