On Oct. 4, Drexel students gathered in the Daskalakis Athletic Center in anticipation of DragonFly 2025. Glowsticks were abundant and the set design was very impressive even before the music started—setting the scene for the amazing night of music that was going to unfold.
This year’s lineup—featuring student openers DJ Obvi, Joontoon, and valentinesday, as well as headliners MKTO and Yung Gravy—provided audience members with a never boring, genre-spanning night. Behind the show was a team of more than 50 students who had been planning the event for months, led by students including Grace Dermody and Leslie Lacy, the vice president and president of Dragon Concert Series. For DragonFly, Dermody served as the staff admin and assistant director while Lacy acted as co-director along with Allison Moses.
Planning for DragonFly 25 began early in the year, long before students had even returned for the spring term. “Our directors put applications out for the team in early April,” Dermody explained. “But they started reaching out to possible sponsors in early 2025. Official planning with the team started mid-April.” Lacy seconded this, noting that “It takes about six months for planning in total.”
The 2025 production marked a major expansion: the student team doubled in size from last year’s. “When I saw how many people were on the team, I was scared because I really didn’t know if I could handle that many people,” Dermody stated. “But after a while, I knew I could do it, and it’s very fun to be in charge of 50 people.”
Lacy noted that frequent communication was crucial to pulling off such a big event with such a large team: “The collaboration process was essentially we would get together every other week…to discuss updates of the event as well as any tasks that needed to be done for each team.” The co-director used the marketing team as an example of how DragonFly is planned months in advance, noting that they “had a really strategic marketing team.” She continued, explaining how “they came up with each post that they wanted to post and the day it should be posted” far in advance.
Due to the long-term planning, the collaboration between Dragon Concert Series and the Campus Activities Board has become one of Drexel’s most effective annual student partnerships. DCS brings industry-level production knowledge, while CAB understands campus engagement and student life. “We all work very well together,” Dermody said. “CAB knows all the ins and outs of student life, and DCS knows everything about the entertainment industry, so we pair very well together.”
Communication, however, remained the biggest challenge. “Most people on the team are on co-op or in classes, which makes communication challenging,” Dermody added. Lacy agreed, noting that with such a big team, it is essential to keep track of the individual team goals and their progress. “Communicating with each team to make sure that we can answer questions they have and making sure everyone knows what they are doing in general is important.”
The show opened with Drexel student acts, building anticipation for the national headliners. Joontoon, a hyper-pop duo, brought a colorful burst of energy. Their set featured bubblegum pop music but occasionally sounded auto-tuned. They covered songs including “Shake It” by Metro Station and a remix of “Closer” by the Chainsmokers feat. Halsey. The pair had the crowd bouncing early. Between songs, they hyped the audience with the line: “Y’all ready to June your tune?”
A fifth-year marketing and BSAN major, Daniel Hoang, called their performance “The best ever! Couldn’t stop screaming!”
When MKTO, the pop-rap duo known for early-2010s hits came on stage, the floor filled even more. They opened with “American Dream” and “How Can I Forget,” even slipping in a cover of Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song” that audience members sang along to. When the duo sang “Superstitious,” Mario the dragon made an appearance on stage. MKTO ended their set, of course, with their most famous song— “Classic.” Everyone in attendance who had been wandering the arena sprinted out to the floor when the 2013 hit started playing.
Finally, Yung Gravy stepped out wearing a custom Drexel basketball jersey—#25, ‘Gravy’ stitched on the back to perform the last set of the night. His set opened with “Oops,” and the crowd’s energy surged. Soon, a familiar Philadelphia chant rang through the DAC: as Gravy led the audience in a round of “E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!”
Unfortunately, there were technical difficulties during “Mr. Clean.” The music cut mid-song and Gravy asked if there were any computer engineers available to help him out.
Gravy pivoted to crowd work, turning a tech failure into an improv Q&A. When asked whether he would rather be a grapefruit or an avocado, he picked a grapefruit. When asked about his favorite MILF, he didn’t hesitate: “Sofía Vergara.” That question was followed up with one about his girlfriend. According to Gravy, she is “hot and awesome.” Due to the industry experience on the DragonFly team, they were able to get the music back up and running again fairly quickly. At the end of the set, Gravy connected with the fans even more by previewing unreleased music. The decision to choose Yung Gravy was a smart one, as this year’s DragonFly crowd was the largest yet.
Drexel is not known for having a traditional “campus life” reputation. Between co-ops and city commutes, community events can struggle to draw large crowds. Dragonfly 25 challenged that narrative. “Getting 1,400 students to come to our show is big and is helping build our campus culture,” Dermody said. Lacy noted that seeing this crowd fill the DAC was emotional for her, “I felt an immense amount of pride and happiness as well as relief because all of the hard work paid off.” Beyond entertainment, Dragonfly gives students professional-level experience in event production—artist booking, logistics, sponsorships, and risk management.
While this year’s show was more successful than past ones in many ways, every show has its chaos. “There are always last-minute problems,” Dermody admitted. “That’s showbiz—you can’t get around it but we figured everything out.” Overall, DragonFly 25 was a huge achievement. The months of work done by the students came to fruition in a fun night full of good music, enthusiastic crowds, and positive responses.
For students interested in contributing to DragonFly in upcoming years, Dermody and Lacy share the same advice: join DCS!