Last Saturday, you may have noticed the increase in black hooded, patched students roaming campus. Believe it or not, they weren’t just here for the Jell-o wrestling on Main Hall Green. Skappleton, the annual music festival, drew a substantial crowd to the Buchanan-Kiewit Rec Center this last weekend. The YUAI-sponsored event brought headlining ska bands from around the region to raise funds and enjoy the ska music tradition.
The show ran from 3 p.m. to around midnight, but people began showing up much earlier than planned. Early comers were encouraged to wander over to the Ormsby Zoo Days and Shack-a-Thon near Main Hall so the bands had time to set up.
The headlining bands included Out of Line, The Exhibitionists, Flipsyde, Mustard Plug, and others from around the Midwest.
The Toasters, one of the headlining bands that was supposed to play, had to cancel due to a medical emergency, To compensate for the loss the door price was lowered one dollar.
The group made out well anyway, raising approximately $3000 and involving over 700 people, according to Zack Erickson, one of the event coordinators for this year’s Skappleton.
“The numbers were up this year,” said Erickson when asked about the success of this year’s show. According to Erickson, the money raised this year will go toward the promotion and set-up for next year’s Skappleton.
Erickson hopes to once again increase the amount of off-campus publicity, drawing more of a widespread crowd.
“We may be looking at getting an ad in The Onion for next year; it’s expensive but could be worth it.”
This year, special promotional deals were made with hotels and cab services around town to provide for out-of-town attendees. “We had enough people to fill the hotel; I even had someone from Chicago call and ask about places to stay.”
With the number of out-of-town attendees increasing, Skappleton may well be making its way on to the Midwest’s ska music scene.