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MTV invades the University of Maine this spring with the help of bands Motion City Soundtrack, Straylight Run and Hellogoodbye. The May 5 event is the last date on the Campus Invasion Tour presented by mtvU, MTV’s college-targeted channel, and admission will be free for UMaine students.
Motion City Soundtrack is a punk-emo band who released their latest CD, “Commit This to Memory,” last year on Epitaph Records. “The response to them has been incredible,” said Joe Armenia, vice president of music marketing and promotion for MTV. “We wanted to get behind them and give them that little bit of extra boost by giving them this tour slot.”
Second openers Straylight Run have a similar but less predictable sound to Motion City Soundtrack. According to Armenia, Straylight Run have a great relationship with the headliners and are natural tourmates. Openers Hellogoodbye won MTV2′s “Circuit Breakout,” a battle-of-the-bands-themed show. The bands will be around during the day greeting fans and signing autographs.
Derek Mitchell, vice president of Student Entertainment, was enthusiastic about the lineup. “These bands are actually bands we were looking at trying to get for Bumstock but they were on tour so it was impossible,” said Mitchell. “When this opportunity came to us we were thrilled to have it.”
During the day, there will be an “interactive village” where students can play music video trivia or learn to DJ courtesy of DJ Scratch Academy. “We’re going to have this really tricked-out, spaced-out, high-tech interactive way of learning how to DJ,” said Armenia.
The village will last all day and include chances for students to play games and win prizes. “We call it ‘invasion’ because it’s not just a concert, it’s something that goes on all day for everyone that goes,” said Armenia. “Stop by when you can, get some free swag, and get excited about the concert, hopefully.”
Lifebeat, a music industry AIDS awareness initiative, will be on the tour as well. Most dates on the tour are including donations to Lifebeat as part of the admission cost, but as the show will be free to students the organization will instead put donation boxes around the village.
The mtvU Campus Invasion will augment Bumstock to give students a better spring concert experience, as Mitchell admitted it was difficult finding Bumstock headliners. “April 22 is probably one of the most booked dates in college booking this year, which makes booking Bumstock incredibly difficult,” he said.
Because Student Entertainment just booked the date, some details are still unclear. Mitchell said no locations have been confirmed yet, but the village will likely be in the field behind Fogler Library and the concert will probably be in the parking lot beside the Maine Center for the Arts or in Lengyel Field. Mitchell said admission will be available to non-students at an as-yet undetermined cost.
Bangor Daily News