2008 Woodie Awards
Post-Tigerfest perspectives
Julia Conny
Arts | 4/28/08
Despite being a senior, this year was the first year I attended Tigerfest. The most significant reason for this deliberate skipping is simple over-scheduling. I usually work at my part-time job on Saturdays. But this year, I managed to make it down to campus to catch the festivities.
My initial thoughts were mixed. Here I was, amongst a sea of my fellow Towson population. Going against the grain, I hadn't planned on drinking. This provided me with both people-watching entertainment and mild boredom. The moon-bounce mega-structures looked incredibly inviting, if not for me then for the swarms of excitable students. It wasn't my turn to utilize the beer garden, but the general consensus seemed to be that beer is good, music is good and that we are thankful our University gives us this end-of-the-semester stress reliever.
The whole she-bang left me thinking. While The Roots and Immortal Technique are really neat, The Calling boggled my mind a bit. When I first heard the Tigerfest line-up, it took a visit to The Calling Myspace page to remember how 2002's "Wherever You Will Go" actually went. As the band is a major one-hit wonder, that's a discouraging sign. I do, however, vaguely remember the band's subsequent single, "Adrienne", but it still seems like an odd choice as a main stage act. The Roots, a largely influential and Grammy-award winning band and hip-hop act and Immortal Technique, a more underground but highly-respected political activist MC, The Calling stick out like a sore new millennium alt-rock thumb. I can't be the only one perplexed by the line-up choice.
Not that it wasn't entertaining. All this was just water under the bridge for me because there were break dancers, another one up for Towson University. I have a weakness for break dancing. That, and a couple more laps around Burdick Field got me thinking some more.
To the bureaucratic gods of Tigerfest, those that sat perched at top the giant inflatable tiger slide, I'd like to propose a few acts for next year's Tigerfest.
In past years, we've seen Third Eye Blind, Yellowcard and Dashboard Confessional. Not everyone likes these bands. Let's go more universal next year, like some classic, perhaps. A few preliminary names come to mind: MC Hammer, Weird Al Yankovic or New Kids on The Block.
I know it all seems silly, but I adore a good festival. And it's not everyday that you get to see the Hammer himself or Joey McIntyre. Imagine the possibilities. Break dancers, a handful of moon-bounces, and "Amish Paradise?"
Now that's a Tigerfest gone wild.
Sweet Tunes:
Fire In The Hole - Tigerfest Battle of the Bands winner. A jam band sort with fun, flirty guitars and a pop edge.
Moneen - A progressive indie rock band from Ontario. They've been around since the early 2000's, and a new album is in store for this year from Vagrant Records.
My initial thoughts were mixed. Here I was, amongst a sea of my fellow Towson population. Going against the grain, I hadn't planned on drinking. This provided me with both people-watching entertainment and mild boredom. The moon-bounce mega-structures looked incredibly inviting, if not for me then for the swarms of excitable students. It wasn't my turn to utilize the beer garden, but the general consensus seemed to be that beer is good, music is good and that we are thankful our University gives us this end-of-the-semester stress reliever.
The whole she-bang left me thinking. While The Roots and Immortal Technique are really neat, The Calling boggled my mind a bit. When I first heard the Tigerfest line-up, it took a visit to The Calling Myspace page to remember how 2002's "Wherever You Will Go" actually went. As the band is a major one-hit wonder, that's a discouraging sign. I do, however, vaguely remember the band's subsequent single, "Adrienne", but it still seems like an odd choice as a main stage act. The Roots, a largely influential and Grammy-award winning band and hip-hop act and Immortal Technique, a more underground but highly-respected political activist MC, The Calling stick out like a sore new millennium alt-rock thumb. I can't be the only one perplexed by the line-up choice.
Not that it wasn't entertaining. All this was just water under the bridge for me because there were break dancers, another one up for Towson University. I have a weakness for break dancing. That, and a couple more laps around Burdick Field got me thinking some more.
To the bureaucratic gods of Tigerfest, those that sat perched at top the giant inflatable tiger slide, I'd like to propose a few acts for next year's Tigerfest.
In past years, we've seen Third Eye Blind, Yellowcard and Dashboard Confessional. Not everyone likes these bands. Let's go more universal next year, like some classic, perhaps. A few preliminary names come to mind: MC Hammer, Weird Al Yankovic or New Kids on The Block.
I know it all seems silly, but I adore a good festival. And it's not everyday that you get to see the Hammer himself or Joey McIntyre. Imagine the possibilities. Break dancers, a handful of moon-bounces, and "Amish Paradise?"
Now that's a Tigerfest gone wild.
Sweet Tunes:
Fire In The Hole - Tigerfest Battle of the Bands winner. A jam band sort with fun, flirty guitars and a pop edge.
Moneen - A progressive indie rock band from Ontario. They've been around since the early 2000's, and a new album is in store for this year from Vagrant Records.
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