Have you always wished someone would give you an almond cookie in the shape of your brain fractals? If so, you should check out Scott Beibin’s presentation at LU Weird this weekend.
Nick Waldner of the Band Booking Committee and Addy Goldberg of WLFM have combined to produce a two-day music- and lecture-based festival for Lawrence students. The idea started after Waldner and Goldberg approached Curt Lauderdale, Assistant Dean of Students for Campus Life, about frustrations over last year’s big event, Gym Class Heroes.
Many Lawrentians felt that the Big Event committee had booked Gym Class Heroes without polling the Lawrence community to get a sense of how the band would be received. Goldberg and Waldner approached Curt in the hopes of putting on a musical event that would echo the student body’s preferences rather than those of a five-person club. LU Weird was the outcome of this discussion.
The festival, taking place Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29, is definitely more appealing to the average hipster. However, it also has a broader variety of events than your typical music festival.
Goldberg and Waldner managed to get Vermin Supreme, the satirical activist and anarchist, to give a lecture that will potentially cover anything from a more sensible drug policy to the importance of brushing ones teeth. Goldberg also encourages people to go to Groucho Fractal at 4 p.m. on Saturday for what is sure to be an “absurd” presentation by Scott Beibin.
The basic outline of the festival will be three lecture/presentations, taking place during the evening and day on Friday and Saturday, followed by concerts at night. While Groucho Fractal and Vermin Supreme’s presentations will deviate from the expected, Sao Paulo Underground will be giving an interesting and low-key lecture on the music scene in Sao Paulo, Brazil at 6 p.m. on Friday.
The two headliners, Sao Paulo Underground on Friday and the much beloved Maps and Atlases on Saturday, are the crowd-drawing events of the festival.
However, Goldberg and Waldner hope that by including openers such as Ahleuchatistas and Why I Must Be Careful that fall far off the mainstream music aficionado’s radar, students will get a taste of a genre “they wouldn’t normally be exposed to.”
Goldberg further stated that if this festival is a success it will be “indicative of people branching out from just music and adding a visual component.” The title truly fits the festival, in such a way that no matter what you choose to go to, the event is likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime sort of unique.
For any who are on the fence about attending, Maps and Atlases will certainly make it worth your while. The band played in the Café Fall Term of 2010 and were a rousing success. Their music is universally appealing and they are especially fantastic at engaging the crowd.
The end of their former concert here involved them sitting among students in the cafe which created an acoustically delightful atmosphere. Waldner suggests that, with any luck, they will re-create that experience during their second visit.
Overall, fellow Lawrentians, this festival will be one of the most uniquely-Lawrence events the school has witnessed, and if it doesn’t manage to broaden your horizons, it will at least certainly be a great time.