by Jessica Bannon
At about 7:49 p.m. on Saturday, the lights dimmed and the crowd cheered. Then they went back on, and the crowd booed. But then the lights went off for good, and Mike Doughty opened up the near sold-out show at Alumni Hall.
About an hour later Rusted Root appeared and the crowd went positively wild. As the night went on, the band began to focus more on the spontaneity that live music affords, continuing to jam for longer than the studio tracks were recorded- much to the crowds delight.
“I got the impression Rusted Root were genuinely enjoying themselves, just going with what they produced on the spot. They ended on such a high note that I didn’t notice that the song almost everyone wanted to hear wasn’t in their set,” noted Kelly Ann Martin, ’06. In fact, the band had planned to play, “Send Me on My Way,” but were so exhausted that they physically could not do it. The crowd, however, seemed to realize that Rusted Root had transcended the song, and were particularly won over by fast numbers such as “Ecstasy.”
Concertgoers responded positively to the opening performers, particularly Seeking Homer. Although the band only played for 20 minutes, they truly seemed to work up some members of the crowd; “Don’t Mess with Texas” spurred more than a few to dance in the aisles, and Elvis’s “Hound Dog” appealed to the spiky-haired preteen and the middle-aged parent alike.
About 2,415 tickets were sold to the show, not including about 150 tickets given out for free to those who won them, workers at the show, and associates of the bands. Given the venue’s maximum capacity of about 2,600, the concert was certainly a hit, thanks in no small part to the all the students who helped out.
“The fact that so many people donated their time for the student body is amazing,” said FUSA President Karen Donahue, ’03. Students look forward to the possibility of another concert in the spring in hopes that it will be as great as this one was.
Leave a Reply