SAMANTHA BLONS
A&E Assistant Editor
As the sun disappears behind the Malibu waves, the edgy pop-rock sounds of OK Go and the cheers of their Pepperdine fans will echo from Alumni Field. OK Go, the Grammy-winning headliner of the Student Programming Board spring concert, will perform April 13, with two opening bands: Augustana and Cavil at Rest.
The concert will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $10 for Pepperdine students with an I.D. when purchased from the box office, and $20 for the public. They can also be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, but students will not receive the discounted price.
OK Go’s sophomore full-length album, “Oh No,” caught the music industry’s attention in 2005 after the band’s low-budget music video for its first single, “A Million Ways,” spread across the Internet.
The group is most well known for its wildly popular follow-up video for the track, “Here It Goes Again,” in which the four band members perform a choreographed dance on eight treadmills. Since it was first posted on Youtube.com, the video has been viewed more than 13.5 million times.
The video also won the Grammy this year for Best Short Form Music Video. The song peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the full album reached the 69th spot on the Billboard 200.
Damian Kulash leads OK Go’s treadmill dancing quartet on vocals and guitar, along with Tim Nordwind on bass, Dan Konopka on drums, and Andy Ross on guitar and keyboards.
“We saw [OK Go] as an up-and-coming band,” said Anthony Kennada, concert coordinator for the Board, previously known as SPB. He said results from a student survey conducted in the fall indicated students wanted to see bands such as OK Go perform on campus.
Over the past few years, the Board has hosted several concerts featuring bands that have been old news, Kennada said, including Jimmy Eat World and Jars of Clay. When Jars of Clay performed, about 200 of the 1,000 concertgoers were Pepperdine students.
“From the fall concert, we learned it was really important to listen to what students want to come see,” Kennada said.
He said he is confident that students will be more inclined to attend the upcoming concert.
“People are really excited about it; the buzz is huge for this,” Kennada said.
Freshman Aaron Morgan has been a fan of OK Go for several years, “since before they were popular,” he said. The last time Morgan saw them live, they were performing at a small Odessa, Texas bar. He said he is excited to see them play a major show at Pepperdine.
Morgan said he was not impressed by the Jars of Clay concert last fall, but thinks the Board has lined up a stronger show this semester.
“I think they definitely did a better job picking more fan-based, better bands,” Morgan said.
Opening for OK Go is another rising star in the alternative rock genre, Augustana, whose first widely released album, “All the Stars and Boulevards,” peaked at No. 96 on the Billboard 200 chart. Also, the band’s hit single, “Boston,” is a radio favorite.
“Originally it was just going to be OK Go, but I wanted to make the concert a big deal, and we had it in the budget to get them,” Kennada said of the impressive concert line up.
Augustana fans are common at Pepperdine, in part because the San Diego-based band has a strong local fan base.
Junior Diana Fong said Augustana’s music is “very chill and relaxing,” and is planning to attend the Alumni Park concert.
“I’ve heard they’re amazing live,” Fong said.
Also opening the show is Cavil at Rest, a group well accustomed to the Pepperdine audience. Pepperdine junior Ryan Hahn sings lead, and the group has performed on campus several times before. Last year, they opened for Jimmy Eat World and won the student Battle of the Bands competition. Earlier this semester they gave a show in the Sandbar for Human Trafficking Week.
Cavil at Rest will perform tracks from their new album, “Orion Way.” Hahn said he is looking forward to opening for the other two bands.
“Our job is to get everyone excited,” he said. “We’re really excited to play for everyone again, for our friends, in such a beautiful setting.”
With the concert date steadily approaching, Kennada is focusing on promoting the show and selling tickets. He said the Board is brainstorming more ways to get students involved in the concert, with events such as ticket giveaways.
“We know [students are] excited about it, but it’s just a matter of getting them to buy the tickets,” Kennada said. “We’re confident that they will. These are three really sweet bands.”
While he cannot disclose the total amount paid to an artist, Student Activities Coordinator Dustin Vyers said the total budget for concerts is $30,000. According to an article in the Nov. 9 Graphic, Vyers estimated that the cost of the Jars of Clay concert totaled about $45,000. However, Kennada said the budget changes each semester.
03-29-2007