Syracuse got a chance to be up close and personal with DJ Pauly D of reality show “Jersey Shore” on Thursday night.

Performing as a part of the Winter Carnival, Pauly D and opener Rockie Fresh put on a show for Syracuse University students in Goldstein Auditorium. The crowd began lining up at 6 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show, but doors didn’t open until 8:30.

The public relations spokeswoman for University Union, Sarah Fleisher, credited the delay to Rockie Fresh’s late flight arrival to Syracuse.

When doors finally opened at 8:30 p.m., the crowd was more than anxious to get started. Finally, at 9:15 p.m., opening act Rockie Fresh (Donald Pullen) walked out and pumped up the crowd — except no one seemed to know who Rockie Fresh was.

Fresh informed the crowd it was his first time performing in Syracuse, and name-dropped Wale and Rick Ross as several of his “closest friends.” Throughout Fresh’s performance, audience reaction was lackluster and members impatiently checked their watches, waiting for the main act to appear.

Many students started to chant, “Pauly D! Pauly D!” as soon as Fresh swaggered off stage.

When Pauly D finally burst onto the stage amid a smattering of fanatical screams, he quickly started dropping beats from his Italian flag-bedazzled laptop.

Alexis Cargill, a freshman communication and rhetorical studies major, said she was Pauly D’s biggest fan. She was fourth in line and didn’t want to give up her chance at the front row and a chance to glean in Pauly D’s sweat.

“I got here at six and I didn’t leave the line even, when I found out it was delayed,” Cargill said.

The set started with a remix of “Some Nights” by Fun., which amped up the crowd for the rest of the hour-and-a-half performance.

Pauly D offered everything from One Direction to “Harlem Shake,” “Clique” to “Thrift Shop,” and even some 90s alternative to 50 Cent. He played a few of his new singles, the most notable being “Back to Love.” He engaged the crowd and employed a lot of special effects.

But students weren’t the only ones in the diverse crowd. Several parental figures were mixed in with the throngs of college kids, and their raunchy forms of dance overpowered their younger counterparts.

Some students, like Katherynne Andujar, a senior in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, used the concert as a release from the stress of classes during the mid-semester crunch.

“I think this is a really great way to de-stress from class, get into a dance club vibe in ‘Cuse and do something fun during my last year here,” Andujar said.

Several fights broke out as people got caught up in the music. But even with flailing fists, audience members enjoyed themselves by dancing “the Jersey Turnpike,” “twerking” and fist-pumping the rest of the night.

When cabs finally arrived, no one wanted to leave. The night fulfilled some lifelong dreams, both big and small, for many audience members, like Jordan McCaffery, a high school student in the East Syracuse Minoa school district.

Said McCaffery: “I have a weird obsession with Pauly D. I keep a voodoo doll of him in all of his glory at my apartment, and I play with it every day. It was incredible to be able to see the real version of my doll.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the reason the show was delayed was misstated. The concert was pushed back because Rockie Fresh’s flight was delayed and a significant amount of students had bought tickets to see him perform. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on February 25, 2013 at 12:36 am

Contact Madysan: mgfoltz@syr.edu | @madysangabriele