12 The Behrend Beacon
All-American Rejects bring the masses to Junker
continued from page 1
such as this, no inherent prob
lems disrupted any of the pro
cedures. As for the day of the
concert, "It's been smooth sail
ing," said Rodgers.
Torok, the go-to for on-site
band and tour managers, said
that they were easy to work
with. "The managers are great.
Their job is set for the band.
My job. along with everyone
else's is to make their job even
easier." "Everyone else" in
cludes the more than one hun
dred student volunteers,
on-campus security, and even
the bands' setup technicians.
Sophomore communications
major, Missy Saxton said that
she was helping because she
wanted to be involved. "It's
good experience related to my
major. I've met a ton of new
people so far and it's a lot of
fun." Sophomore Allison Roch
also stated she wanted to get
involved. As for the many
other students, reasons varied
from free admission to obtain
ing a free t-shirt to meeting
Tyson Ritter, the lead singer for
All-American Rejects.
Student work ranged from
taking tickets to helping the
touring technicians set up the
massive sound-system later
used in the concert. One tech
nician described the job as
being "the same, and yet differ
ent every time we do it. You
know when you see the circus
in town? It's like that. We set
up, perform. tear down, move
out, and do it again the next
day for months at a time." An
other (who was pressed as it
was for time) compared his job
to that of being on a subma
rine, "You get to know people
pretty well. In all sorts of ways
you'd never imagine." Still an
other, carrying a huge case of
guitars said "It's weird, be
cause as soon as you get home
for the two months, you start
getting antsy. It's hard to keep
girlfriends."
Security Issues
Jim Amann, chief-of-security
of Behrend's Police Services
and his men were there for a
more ethical concern. Stu
dents attending the concert
have to be safe. Amann said
that his number one concern
was alcohol. "How you handle
(concerts] in the past is how
you handle them now. Our
biggest problem is always alco
hol." In fact, according to stu
dent ticket takers at the door,
part of their jobs included
checking the bags, backpacks,
and purses of anyone coming
Attendees stand idle as the stage undergoes a set change. This same bike-rack
barricade withstood a barrage of students throughout the entire performance given by
the All-American Rejects.
in - regardless of age. No one
leaving for a cigarette or breath
of fresh air was exempt from
the checking process upon re
entry. Throughout the course
of the night, there were in
stances where alcohol was con
fiscated and thrown away.
Even those possessing un
opened bottles had their items
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Junker Center played host to more than 2,000 concert-goers last Friday. Many hailed not just from Erie or Erie county but all over Pennsylvania
confiscated. Some perfume
bottles were even thrown away.
The policy laid out by the
Behrend Police was "No liq
uids. Period."
To further ensure the safety
of attendees and security of the
event, other rules were set into
place, such as the "no crowd
surfing or mosh pits" policy.
This same restriction was
placed on the Third Eye Blind
concert last year along with
The Clarks show. Up until this
year, however, said acts were
never really an issue and were
typically rare occurrences.
While the concert crowd re
mained relatively docile
throughout the show, excite
ment levels soared once the
All-American Rejects took to
the stage.
In place to deter such behay. r
ior was a hike-rack barricade
the stretched the width of the
Junker Center; however, it
seemed not even this could put
a halt to a barrage of fans stam
peding the stage. To further
hinder those trying to hold the
barricade in place (a mixture of
Behrend security forces and
student volunteers), Rejects
lead singer Ritter coaxed the
throng into mayhem. By the
third song in their set list, secu
rity was struggling to hold back
a crowd of over 2,500 people.
Even apart from the best ef
forts of Behrend's own, how
ever, a few managed to find
their way over the malleable
blockade. While the majority
of those climbing over were
leaving for safety reasons,
some claiming they were
"being forced up against the
barricade and wanted to get
out," some deliberately hopped
to wall to get closer to the
hand. Still others were the re
sult of the end of the line in the
crowd surf.
Among the concert-goers
willing to sacrifice their place
STUDENTS SAY "ONE HELL OF A PERFORMANCE"
in the crowd was Leah Laslow,
a senior at Brookville high
school. "I really enjoyed crowd
surfing. This is such a frickin'
sweet show - it was totally
worth it." While her repercus
sions included being forced
outside, Laslow said the pun
ishment was worth it, even
after driving two and a half
hours. "Even though some
body was trying to pull me
down, I was like 'no way!' and
fought my way out." said
Laslow. "I came all this way
just to get kicked out! Awe
some. How many people can
say that?" Laslow was later
seen meandering through the
outside lobby of Junker in a
different outfit, coming back in
to enjoy the concert.
A Summing.'
Playing in front of a sea of
unfamiliar faces, Vedera lead
singer Kristen May asked the
Junker Center crowd to re
member their name. By the end
of their set, there was no way
anyone would be forgetting.
Formerly playing under the
name Veda, Vedera formed in
Kansas City in 2004. It didn't
take the foursome long to land
a record deal and get started on
the road to stardom, a road
which led them to opening for
the All American Rejects at the
Junker Center.
Vedera opened Behrend's
date of the "I Wanna Rock"
tour for 2,500 people that didn't
even know they were playing.
With their name left off the
posters and advertisements for
the event, Vedera proved dur
ing their 20 minute set that
they have every right to have
their name next to the All-
American Rejects's.
Ranging from down-toned
pitches that can be likened to
Regina Spektor to a full-on
soulful falsetto, May's unique
vocals set Vedera apart from
the rest of the soft-rock com
munity. With soothing accom
paniment from Brian and Drew
Little on Guitar and Drums and
Jason Douglas on Bass, May's
wispy voice is just the icing on
the cake that is Vedera.
The art-rock quartet began
and ended the majority of their
tunes with a resonating ambi
ence. Utilizing soft keys, clean
guitars and a laid back rhythm
section, Vedera brought tender
pop sensibilities that one does
n't usually associate with acts
like All American Rejects or
Shiny Toy Guns.
May was more than humble
about her band's success.
"We don't usually play with
people this big," May said. "It's
phenomenal. We're going back
out with The Fray [after tour is
over]. And we're putting out a
new CD through Epic. I can't
believe it, but it's awesome."
Vedera's performance was a
pleasant surprise at a concert
populated by mainstream acts.
For a sold-out crowd of college
students with musical knowl
edge limited to Myspace adver
tisements and shows on MTV,
Vedera should be a wake-up
call to everyone outside of the
indie rock community that
~o metim- the I—nri ‘‘.hose
name isn't on the poster is the
best one at the show.
Changing the Mood: Ace
Enders & A Million Other
People
Following Vedera was the
solo project of Ace Enders, the
former frontman of the Early
November, aptly titled Ace En
ders & A Million Different Peo
ple.
Enders's foray into solo ma
terial doesn't stray far from the
formula he crafted with the
Early November in 2002. Ever
since then, swarms of whiny
kids in tight pants with swoopy
bangs longed to emulate En
ders's style at every café and
talent show they coy - - n
-4914M--patt
40,'seems to long,L./'''4".
glory.
Following the one-of-a-kind
display put on by Vedera, En-
As early as noon that day, people began to line up in anticipation. Many hoped to be the first in the auditorium and thus closer to
Tyson Ritter, lead singer of the All-American Rejects
ders's overplayed stylings felt
stale in comparison. For the
portion of the crowd populated
by high school students, En
ders's music surely hit home,
and for the portion populated
by intoxicated people, Enders's
music was surely easy to sing
along to. With choruses failing
to be comprised of little more
than "oh-oh-oh's," Enders en
couraged the listening drunk
ards to sing with him.
Despite his dated music, En
ders matched the tastes of the
other performers better than
Vedera or Shiny Toy Guns.
Many of his songs sounded like
they were crafted for the radio
(almost purposely so), making
the songwriter a good match
for the All American Rejects.
Both Vedera and Ace Enders
& A Million Different People
have clips of their music on
their Myspace pages.
Synthpop, Make Up, and
Flashy Showmanship
Next to take the stage was
Shiny Toy Guns. Dawning
their heavy face make-up and
stunning apparel, STG was a
band who put on more than a
show for show's sake. This rel
atively unknown group per
formed in front of thousands of
men and women, most of
whom hearing this
blend of sound for the first
time.
Leading the Shawnee, Okla
homa based band on this night
was the petite vocalist, synthe
sizer, and bassist Sisely Treas
ure of STG.
Treasure, who joined the
band as a replacement for for
mer singer Chara Faye
Charnow in the summer of
2008, first noted the atmos
phere of the unfamiliar college.
"It's such a different vibe from
being outdoors. We came from
Detroit, where we played out
side."
Since their arrival that day, microphone cord.
said Treasure, everything was By the end of the set list, the
"just go, go, go! Even though crowd was roaring for the pop
we've been touring nonstop, beats and dance-funk that the
we had some one-off shows on,. Shiny Toy Guns had to offer
the side. A lot in.Hawak, aetiii , ----1440.-the-crowd44ooAheir
ally. Then we flew back to LA, perfortnimee and W&med
did a Super Bowl show. We've this somewhat unheard of
had at least 2to 3 gigs a month, hand with opmarms, Treasure
really." said that STG is "always look-
In the advent of a new studio
album, Seasons of Poison, STG
has been awash in a more
mainstream fanbase. After
having performed their first
album, We Are Pilots, for more
than four years, Treasure says
that "Season of Poison is really
a product of singing and per
forming We Are Pilots for so
long. By a certain point, the
music was overplayed. On
Pictured in the background is Shiny Toy Guns drummer, Mikey Martin. In the fore
ground, vo(- 'qt r'' "H sings 'e ,,, ts With One "
Friday, April 24, 2009
stage, there wasn't a lot of
breaking it down."
Treasure couldn't put it bet
ter. With their former album,
songs were based heavily
around prerecorded tracks,
live-performance liberties were
scarce. "We had to play with
tracks, I mean we're an elec
tronic band - there's gotta be
tracks. Unlike AAR, who's
more instrumental, so they've
got some great live shows.
With Season of Poison, we've
got 'Ghost Town.' The whole
point of the album was really to
able to me more real and lib
eral with our live perform
ances."
Fortunately, Treasure lived
up to her words. STG put up a
phenomenal show. A sea of
more than 2,500 people felt
their ears tingle as a combina
tion of synthpop and alterna
tive dance-rock flooded the
Junker Center.
As the performance opened
with the aptly titled "Starts
With One," where the genius of
frontman Chad Petree's vocals
really came through, the un
prepared crowd was rocked.
unique
The third song on their set
list, "Rainy Monday," debuted
on their first album. Treasure
pulled out a bass, showing off
her versatility, as Petree lead
the vocal progression and kept
things slow.
By the time STG had reached
their latest single, "Ghost
Town," the crowd was com
pletely revved up as Treasure
took the spotlight, jumping
around the stage in her tight
blue spandex and white tee.
"Hey Penn State, I wore these
colors for you," exclaimed
Treasure, entangled with the
Though "that audience was so
much fun! They were way bet
ter than the last two shows [we
played]."
Drummer Mikey Martin kept
his statement brief: "I thought
the show was great. [lt was an]
awesome party; they were so
loud, I loved it."
see REJECTS on page 11