The NCAA Final Four basketball tournament was held this year in San Antonio, Texas and it was a great tourney to those in attendance. Chicago’s Loyola made the trip to the big dance, as did Villanova, Michigan and Kansas. Though most of the crowd was backing Loyola in the first game, Villanova eventually won out to claim their second championship in 3 years, and the Alamodome was packed to the ceilings! The only blemish was the fact that all of the games were not broadcast on any of the major networks, and neither was the Jamfest of musical performers just a few blocks down the road. The game was seen by 16 million viewers on TBS, TNT and Tru TV last week, the Nielsen company said. That’s down sharply from the 23 million who saw North Carolina beat Gonzaga in the 2017 finals. The 30 percent drop is likely due to a combination of a relatively non-competitive game and its airing on a cable network instead of CBS, which showed last year’s game.

The true winners of the weekend were the fans that were able to make it in time to see some of their favorite bands perform on two stages set up beside the convention center. These performers included Maroon 5, One Republic, Imagine Dragons, Panic at the Disco and Daya amongst a slew of other bands on the second stage. The weather was drop dead perfect for Texas and the field was packed all three nights.

Dan Reynolds and Imagine Dragons put on one of the best outdoor performances of the month with crisp and clean vocals and a drum beat that was heard throughout the city. They play drums in so many different ways that those studying the art would be wise to follow them on any platform available.

Panic as the Disco were the most lively of the groups to play with lead singer Brendon Urie leading the charge in a very unique gold dress jacket and even cooler microphone. His dance moves play so well with his voice that the entire crowd was jumping in tune on nearly every song. Catch them live if you can, as the lyrics change in every city. PATD’s rendition of Queens “Bohemian Rhapsody” sung this night cant even be explained, just google them to see what I mean, they stole the show.

Daya crooned out some her most famous hits as an up and coming musician and then Maroon 5 did what they do so well. The brung it!!! The worlds sexiest man Adam Levine drove everyone completely nuts as he did what only he can do. The place was a total mess, but in a good way.

Capital One surely knows how to pick their performers for this NCAA Jamfest and I can not wait to see who they feature next year in Minnesota! You will just have to follow the live stream though, unless you are lucky enough to snag a ticket.

Photos: Alex Menendez