Even when the sky began to darken and the rain started to fall, students and other concert-goers simply put Costa del Mar shirts on their heads and huddled around the stage to wait for the concert to begin.

After a stormy beginning, the 2010 Costa del Mar U. of Blue Greekfest featuring Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Slightly Stoopid and Pretty Lights was able to begin at 9 p.m. and didn’t finish until well into the night.

Phillip Dean, a junior majoring in finance, was on the Greek Programming Board, which helped to plan the event.

Dean said the concert took a lot of time and effort to get together.

“It’s been a very hectic project,” Dean said. “This is a large group of students so it’s a process. The day is finally here though and it’s good to see the finished product. It hasn’t been easy but this is a good experience.”

Dean said different types of bands were chosen to interest different students on campus and add diversity to the concert.

“It’s a good diverse line-up to target the student body,” Dean said. “It’s a little bit of everything. I think it’s a great line-up.”

Dean said more than 5,000 tickets were sold, and he expected 5,000 to 8,000 students to show up.

“It’s a mix of greek and non-greek out here,” Dean said. “While it’s the greeks putting on a festival, it’s for the entire campus, anybody can come.”

Noemie Jollet, a junior majoring in English, is from France and studying at the University for a semester and came to see what an event like this was like in America.

“I’ve never been to something like this in America so this is exciting,” Jollet said. “We don’t know these kinds of bands so we figured we’d check it out. It’s really fun.”

Students could buy food and beverages from stands hosted by local restaurants, such as Mugshots, throughout the night.

While alcohol was not sold on location, students who were over 21 could bring in alcohol purchased elsewhere, but they did have to wear a wrist band indicating they were over 21.

Travis Hanie, a freshman majoring in art history, worked security for the event. He said the night went well and the rain and underage drinking were the only two major problems.

“Underage drinking is the most common problem at events like this,” Hanie said. “But the night has gone very well. The bands are popular and everybody is having a great time.”

Along with food and drinks, attendants were also able purchase Costa del Mar merchandise and also get free handouts from Costa del Mar. Students were able to get free t-shirts, bumper stickers, cups, temporary tattoos and koozies.

Costa del Mar randomly drew ticket numbers throughout the night and the winners received free Costa del Mar sunglasses.

Sean Dave, a freshman majoring in business, won one of the pairs of Costa del Mar sunglasses.

“I didn’t even think about free stuff,” Dave said. “My friends were the ones who were excited about Costa del Mar sunglasses. I just really wanted to see Slightly Stoopid, and I almost didn’t come because I’m running low on money but now I got sunglasses out of it.”

Dave said he enjoyed the concert and was excited about it because of the live music variety available in Alabama compared to Hawaii, where he’s from.

“There is a lot more live music here than in Hawaii,” Dave said. “I was wondering what kind of bands would come to Tuscaloosa. I love Alabama.”

Dean said he was really happy at how things went.

“It came together really nicely,” Dean said. “Everybody is really hyped up and it’s been really cool and fun.”