Springfest, the annual Brandeis concert that takes place just before finals period, has hosted a plethora of popular musicians throughout the years. Before this annual event, Brandeis hosted plenty of artists as part of the Festival of the Creative Arts, student-led festivals and as a participating venue in various college concert series throughout the late 20th century.

Looking back on the concert lineups of Brandeis’ past, there is an incredible number of notable artists who have performed. From Bob Dylan to No Doubt, a wide variety of up-and-coming musicians rose to stardom following their performances here.

Many Brandeis students are familiar with Bob Dylan's performance at the University in 1963, and others have become familiar with it since the debut of the live album “In Concert – Brandeis University 1963.” Released in 2011, the album was a joint effort between Columbia Records and Legacy Records. Recorded in May 1963, the live album includes Dylan’s entire performance from the very first annual Brandeis Folk Festival.

Brandeis alumnus Arnie Reisman ’64 told BrandeisNOW that the famous recording of Dylan’s performance was impromptu and uncomplicated. He said, "There was a tape being done by the University. From what I recall, there was only one tape recorder that was patched into the microphone.” The live album was recorded just two weeks prior to the release of Dylan’s sophomore album, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” which skyrocketed him to fame. Dylan was not the only notable musician to play at the first annual Folk Festival. The concert lineup also included popular names in folk music such as Pete Seeger and Jean Ritchie.

Dylan’s appearance at Brandeis in 1963 may have been his first time at the University, but it was not the last. More than a decade later, in November 1975, Dylan played a show at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center as part of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour accompanied by Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell.

Brandeis alumna Betsy Pfau ’74 recalled her experience at the performance in a blog post. She writes, “It was a secret. We only knew about it because a good friend on the Brandeis Student Senate contacted us. We had already graduated, but he got us tickets and we lined up outside the gym on that cold November night in 1975, waiting for legends of our musical lives: Dylan and Baez (performing together for the first time in 10 years), Roger McGuinn, Ronee Blakley, hot off ‘Nashville’; we didn’t know it, but Joni Mitchell would make a guest appearance.”

Just a few years later, the Ramones performed on that same stage. In 1982, the popular punk-rock band drew a large crowd for their 30 song performance, but it garnered mixed reviews. “The furious pace and hard-driving rhythms which makes the Ramones, were there. The vitality and spark which make a good rock concert were not. It could have been a movie of the Ramones for all of the audience/band interaction that took place, wrote student Neil Safran in the April 29, 1982 edition of The Justice. Although they didn’t get their start at Brandeis, the Ramones continued to grow in popularity after their appearance here, culminating in their induction into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2002.

Just a decade down the road, 1996 was a big year for music at Brandeis. Riding the high of her hit album, “Jagged Little Pill,” Alanis Morisette made an appearance at Brandeis in early 1996. Despite being sick with a cold, she still managed to deliver an impressive show. Later that year, Gwen Stefani and her band “No Doubt” appeared on the same stage in June as part of a summer concert series. Playing as an opener for 311, the band had gained recent success with the single “Just A Girl.” Following this performance, No Doubt went on to win two Grammys for the album, and also earned other nominations. Their success only grew from there as they headlined their own tour following the performance at Gosman.

Moving into the 21st century, Brandeis organizers continued to scout talent that would go on to soar in fame. In 2004, John Mayer attracted a flock of fans composed of Brandeis students and others in the greater Boston area. Student Andrew Katz ’05  recounted the evening in an article for The Justice. He wrote, “Around 4,500 people packed into the athletic center which was masterfully transformed into a concert venue. Buses arrived from Bentley [University], cars arrived from the neighboring towns and colleges, and droves of people walked and took trains to join the community in seeing this huge act. There was even a smattering of townies, as many Waltham residents, some way beyond college-age, intermixed with the young crowd.” Mayer, who is currently touring with “Dead and Company,” has had continued success post-Brandeis.

Although many of the past performances here have been folk and rock focused, Brandeis has recently broadened their horizons into pop and rap music. Artist Childish Gambino who rose to fame in both acting and performing, took the stage at Springfest 2012 and attracted a herd of spectators. “Childish Gambino was charming. Up close, his personality really came through in his speech and ability to entertain. The moments of melody in his songs were quite nice, showing off his strong vocals. His rapping was okay, but his overall performance was definitely enhanced by his commitment to strong showmanship. With a mixture of live and recorded backup music as well as a digital display with interesting graphics and lyrics, Childish Gambino's set was a great way to end the afternoon,” said Emily Salloway ’13 in a 2012 Justice article.

The year following was just as exciting, with Kendrick Lamar headlining. In April of 2013, Lamar took the stage on Chapels Field. Just beginning his crawl up the rap royalty ladder, he captivated the audience with his Springfest set. Zach Goulet ’16 said in a 2013 article for the Justice, “it was extremely evident that Lamar was indeed the headliner and artist about whom every single member of the massive audience that almost completely packed the field was most thrilled. The rapper commanded the crowd with the prowess of a weathered star.”

It was only up from there for Lamar. His fourth album, “DAMN” skyrocketed him into extraordinary success and landed him an incredible honor; he became the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize in music in 2018 and continued to climb the charts after his performance at Brandeis. This past February, he performed as the headliner for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, which writers at the New York Times dubbed as political art. Brandeis students were able to experience the rap icon’s undeniable talent first-hand, just before he rose to unreachable heights.

Upperclassmen may remember when Doechii performed at Springfest 2023. Despite the gloomy, pouring rain landscape that accompanied her, the turnout was large and Brandeis students were still eager to be involved in the fun. Although she was fairly unknown at the time — slowly growing a fan base online on platforms like TikTok — Doechii is now set to receive Billboard’s Woman of the Year award. Woman of the Year is not the first award she’s received this year. She was also the winner of the Grammy for Best Rap Album of the year. These victories are evidence of Doechii’s growing success, and students at Brandeis were some of the first people to witness it firsthand.

With a pattern like this, it is hard not to wonder: who will be the next mega-star to make the transition from Chapels Field to Madison Square Garden?