The back-to-school blues may be setting in already, but a campus group has a musical event in store to ease the pain of hitting the books once again. The University will host a free “Fall Kickoff Concert” on the school year’s first Saturday, Oct. 4, featuring Rogue Wave, with opening bands Greenlander and The Daveys. The show will go from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. in the Memorial Quad, the grass area between Knight Library and Lillis Business Complex. The event is hosted by the Cultural Forum, a student-run program designed to bring the arts to the University.
“The goal is to have a free concert that has wide appeal to welcome the thousands of new students and bring back returning students to a fun, large-scale event on their campus,” Cultural Forum coordinator Darrel Kau said.
The headlining band was selected through an online “vote for your band” survey, which drew more than 3,000 votes over a 10-day period. Rogue Wave came out on top, with Blue Scholars also among the favorites.
“A great attribute of Rogue Wave is their pro-active interest in environmental issues,” Kau said. “For example, they specifically request that we use little to no paper products for the event to minimize waste.”
Originally from Oakland, Calif., Rogue Wave is a five-piece indie rock band that has played alongside artists including Jack Johnson and Death Cab for Cutie. The band notes Guided by Voices and Radiohead as its influences. While the band’s name is still relatively unfamiliar in the mainstream scene, it is quite likely students have heard Rogue Wave in the soundtracks of “Napoleon Dynamite” and shows such as “Scrubs,” “Weeds” and “The O.C.”
The locally-based Greenlander, and the self-described “semi-electric folk-core gods” the Daveys, will open for Rogue Wave.
Local band members are looking forward to the opportunity to perform with a successful, professional band. “Rogue Wave has a pretty big following, and we’re all really excited to play with them,” Greenlander guitarist Trevor Helt said.
The guitarist fondly remembered attending the University event as a spectator in previous years. “I loved it,” Helt said. “The sound was great and we had a lot of fun. The kids were really into it.”
After finishing a fresh, self-titled album, Greenlander has been energetically playing concerts throughout the Northwest. “We play a lot of fun, spontaneous stuff,” Helt said. The University juniors have jammed since high school and have been taking the band seriously for about three years. Helt feels the band is influenced heavily by ’90s alternative, and named Pearl Jam and Primus as two of the main influences.
With summer drawing to a close, it’s back to school for the band members, who are all studying music at the University. Helt described juggling his academic studies in music with the garage-band lifestyle, explaining how different stylistic elements have seeped into their music. “I’ve learned a lot of things that we can use in our own music,” he said. “Jazz and classical are more complex, and they shine through on other styles. It’s pretty much like rock-and-roll vs. jazz and classical.”
Helt said the band will have a 30-40 minute set list ready in about a week.
The Fall Kickoff Concert began two years ago when students asked the Cultural Forum to host a welcome concert outside on campus. Since then, resources have not been available. Free concerts are expensive; the last one cost more than $35,000. But this spring, the ASUO had over-realized funds of $21,000, and the Cultural Forum submitted a proposal to fund this year’s kickoff concert.
The Cultural Forum works alongside the ASUO and other student groups to produce more than 100 events a year, including film, art, speakers, and performing arts. “I feel that there is a good amount of opportunities for local musicians and music events for students,” said Kau, the Cultural Forum coordinator. “It is our hope that this can be annual event. The event two years ago drew about 4,000. We expect the turnout to be similar.”
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