DJ Pauly D may have been “beatin’ up that beat” at Thirsty Turtle last night, but his music was not the only thing spinning out of control.
Pauly Delvecchio, famous for his stint on the wildly popular MTV series, Jersey Shore, spun at the downtown College Park bar to crowds of screaming reality TV fans. And after a long delay, people may have been taking the Jersey Shore theme too seriously, as pockets of fights and shoving broke out among overly eager onlookers.
True to his recently acquired celebrity status, Delvecchio arrived fashionably late. Though the event was scheduled to start at 7 p.m., Delvecchio didn’t show up until about 11:30 p.m. By then, the crowd was restless.
Groups of girls began pushing each other back and forth to get closer to the stage. Though bouncers asked the rows of students closest to the stage to back up, this only squeezed them up against the rows farther to the back and caused more pushing. By the time Delvecchio actually arrived on stage, groups of desperate students were struggling to free themselves from the masses of swaying people.
Somewhere along the way, a junior finance major, who asked to remain anonymous, found a girl he knew being trampled on the floor. When he tried to pull her up out of the crowd and onto the stage, Pauly D’s bouncers kicked him out of the bar.
“They thought I was wrong for trying to save her life, I guess,” the junior finance major said.
The junior finance major said he had been at the bar since 7 p.m. for the promised VIP meet-and-greet event before the show, waited 5 hours and didn’t even get to see Pauly D’s performance.
The massive crowds last night stem from the mushroomed popularity of the reality show. Jersey Shore exploded into the pop culture scene in the fall and soon became known for its fights, obscene drinking and salacious hookups. The show’s six “guidos” and “guidettes” — as they call themselves — are now veritable celebrities. The show is also set for a second season.
“You can try to hate Jersey Shore as much as you want, but at the same time, you love it,” senior psychology major Molly Queen said at the concert last night.
The Facebook event for Turtle’s DJ Pauly D event boasted about 3,000 people, and the bar had been advertising the show for months. The bar had drink specials for its VIP guests, but was slow to fill up, despite its scheduled 7 p.m. starting time.
When Delvecchio did arrive, he brought his signature laptop emblazoned with the Italian flag and enough fist pumps to go around.
Scarlett Stanley, a 29 year-old from Harford County, said she may have found the man of her dreams after watching Jersey Shore from the beginning.
“[Pauly D’s] looks, his whole persona is what I want,” Stanley said. “It is what I have been looking for.”
Stanley found out about the event yesterday and rushed to College Park to see her favorite Ed Hardy-clad DJ. Stanley said she actively follows Pauly D on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter and called him her “future baby daddy.”
“I’m hoping for the best experience of my life,” Stanley said. “I want him to look me in the eyes, and I’ll go home with him.”
Still, the crowd trussed up in hair bumps, spray products and tight clothing was there to see the hair-gelled playboy spin some sweet beats.
Freshman marketing major Brittany Godinez accompanied her friend to the bar. Both came to see one of the stars from the trashy TV they love.
“[The show] is ridiculous,” Godinez said. “It’s enjoyably sketchy. I think people like to watch it because it is something more ridiculous than their own lives.”
Her friend, freshman accounting and criminology and criminal justice major Kaitlyn Kerr, is a New Jersey native and saw a slice of home in the TV series.
“I’ve been down to the Jersey Shore,” Kerr said. “It’s the truth. That’s how guys act. I may not be a ‘guidette,’ but its accurate.”
Whether dangerous crowds or screaming fans, one this is for sure —after Pauly D’s performance, “Maryland is going to be a little jolted,” Queen said.
tousignant@umdbk.com
