East Coast band makes one of its last tour stops in what some call ‘biggest concert in Pepperdine history’
By Audrey Reed
Staff Writer
An East Coast band hits West Coast Pepperdine Nov. 3 in what SGA President Ben Elliott calls the biggest concert in Pepperdine history.
The Florida native Dashboard Confessional, known to most as merely Dashboard, is the charter group in what the Concert Committee hopes to be the start of many big name bands coming to campus.
“We decided on using Dashboard because of the timing of their tour and their popularity among Pepperdine students,” Concert Committee Chairman Jimmy Hutcheson said.
The emo-style group, led by front man Chris Carrabba, has four albums and a MTV2 Best Video Award as well as the hit “Screaming Infidelities” to its credit.
Pepperdine is Dashboard Confessional’s second-to-last stop on its United States tour, which is an advantage, Promotions Coordinator David Brooks said.
“When a band raps up a tour, they will usually play songs people have never heard,” he said. “The fact that it’s one of the last stops on the tour makes it exciting.”
While Dashboard Confessional isn’t bringing an opening band, local groups Black Molly and Aria Decline will start off the night after 8 p.m. when the Firestone Fieldhouse doors open.
“It’s really cool to be opening for Dashboard because they are probably the biggest band we’ve ever played with,” trumpet and background vocalist for Aria Decline Matt Highfield said.
Besides three bands, giveaways are also part of the lineup. Every student who buys a ticket is automatically entered into a raffle to win a round trip airplane ticket for two to Las Vegas, ski lift passes at Big Bear, Blockbuster movie passes or a DVD player.
These prizes were funded by the poster fund in an effort to “give back to the students” and to “give students more of a reason to get out there,” printing and ticketing manager Nicole Garcia said.
Garcia also said that 1,200 of the 3,000 available tickets need to be sold in order for the concert to be successful so that other concert endeavors at Pepperdine can be pursued. As of last Wednesday, roughly 1,000 tickets had been sold.
Hutcheson said that he is “happy that we are actually selling tickets” as opposed to offering a free concert that is poorly attended.
“If you like concerts, regardless of whether you like Dashboard, attending the concert is like saying you want more concerts to come to Pepperdine,” Brooks said.
Hutcheson said that if Pepperdine shows support and interest, the concert committee will look into having other genres like punk, reggae or blues come.
Elliot agrees that the concert could lead to other events.
“It’s going to show the university that we can have big events,” he said. “If you put money behind something, Pepperdine students will show up.”
October 31, 2002