Billed as “the world’s largest paint party,” the buzz surrounding Dayglow prompted ticketholders to line up hours before the doors opened at about 7:30 p.m. Near the line were a fleet of porta-potties and 200 pizzas for those waiting.

Partygoers were out in full force, the men primarily wearing white T-shirts and shorts while many women were scantily clad. Many were equipped with glow sticks, goggles and, for one man, a strange, colorful suit with a fake, lit-up butterfly perched on his shoulders on poles about 10 feet high.

Everybody was ready for an unforgettable night: People were heard saying things like “I should text her, ‘Where are you? Get over here and grind with me or something,’” “You don’t have a light, do you? I managed to sneak in two doobers, right here” and “There are about 4 sober people here right now.”

Outside, the scene was at times chaotic. Around 9:30 p.m., a University of Maine police officer was seen chasing two males from the Dunn Hall parking lot and between Dunn and Corbett halls. He walked back toward the Field House huffing and puffing. They got away.

“We just had a guy cold-cock someone,” said University of Maine Police Chief Roland LaCroix, explaining the reason for the chase. “He got away.”

The man who had been punched laid in front of closed Field House bay doors. Personnel from the University Volunteer Ambulance Corps picked him up on a stretcher and whisked him through the building. The mall side of the Field House was where UVAC, Orono, Old Town and Bangor ambulances picked up attendees for transport. LaCroix said on Thursday that his department is investigating the assault.

“There were two arrests, both for criminal trespass, both nonstudents,” LaCroix said Thursday morning, adding there had been 16 medical transports from the Field House and “another 60 or 65 treated and released [for] real minor stuff.”

Dillon Hough, 20, of Yarmouth and Brandon Bell-Colfer of Farmingdale were arrested for criminal trespass in separate incidents at the Field House, LaCroix said. Further information about the two arrests was not immediately available.

Paul O’Connor, a physician assistant on duty Wednesday night into Thursday morning at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, said staff there were “just short of calling [Dayglow] a disaster.”

By 10 p.m., O’Connor said nine college-aged people arrived at the hospital. Between 12 and 14 showed up by night’s end, “all underage, all heavily intoxicated,” with blood alcohol content ranging from .30 to .35, around four times the legal limit for those over the drinking age.

He said with three staffers treating patients and between 22 and 25 open emergency room beds, the hospital was cramped for space when new arrivals came.

“We had a full waiting room. We had traumas and the typical stuff we see anyway. You add 14 people,” O’Connor said. “Now, they’re vomiting on the floor everywhere, so we’re cleaning that up.”

LaCroix corroborated the urgent situation early into the concert.

“I think I heard at one time we were using eight ambulances,” he continued. “It was busy in the first hour and a half or so,” before the level of activity began to taper off.

“You have people starting to leave and everything, and maybe the energy tapers off at the end,” LaCroix said.

The police chief described attendees as energetic and excited.

“It wasn’t anything different from any other sort of concert,” LaCroix said. “The biggest difference between this one and any other since I’ve been here was the UVAC response.”

Some of the shenanigans outside were more innocent: Men who couldn’t find convenient toilets could be seen urinating on the Corbett Hall side of the building. Groups of young women shouted “YOLO,” short for “you only live once.” One man, a lady friend on his arm, called his roommate.

“I need the room tonight,” he said, “for a while.”

One particularly memorable girl talked sincerely to a friend, walking away from the Field House.

“I got peed on tonight,” she said.

As the bass-heavy dance music filled the large room so people filled the venue. Tickets were being sold at the door and Vice President of Student Entertainment Joseph “Pat” Nabozny said he believed they sold out. On Thursday morning, he clarified that to mean 2,850 tickets.

“We were at the building’s maximum occupancy,” he said, adding that the number of medical transportations was “unfortunate.”

“I feel like [on] Maine Day, there are a lot of kids consuming alcohol all day,” Nabozny said. “I don’t believe all the transportations occurred simply because of Dayglow.”

One drawback to the event, Nabozny said, was that Dayglow did not bring the VIP bags promised to attendees who purchased a higher-tier ticket for the event. He said a conference call was scheduled for later on Thursday to orchestrate a way for those bags to be delivered.

Since music was playing from the first moment ticketholders walked in, it was hard to say when the show started, but the volume and intensity of the show picked up at about 8:30 p.m. when the “Dayglow Countdown” was displayed on the video screens. The clock started at one hour and counted down to the first “paint blast,” when large quantities of paint and confetti were sprayed into the crowd.

Smaller bottles of paint were distributed to the crowd throughout the night, for attendees to splash on people at their own discretion. Few were left free of paint, and few were left without a partner to dance with provocatively.

Deejaying was LA Riots, a duo from Los Angeles who, according to their MySpace page, “are in the business of crafting straight-up, hot-as-shit club bangers and they’re not messing around.” They played a combination of originals and remixes of popular songs by Adele, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gotye and others.

At around 11:30 p.m., after an encore song was played, the show wrapped itself up with the DJs thanking the crowd for their hospitality and asking if they wanted Dayglow to return next year.

That question received an enthusiastic response.

Style Editor Derrick Rossignol was among the masses at Dayglow. Editor in Chief Michael Shepherd observed from outside. This story was updated Thursday by News Editor Beth Kevit and Shepherd.

More photos from the event can be seen at The Maine Campus’ Facebook page.

Kingman’s, a Old Town bar, welcomed a total of 33 DJs, jam bands, dubstep artists and more to help kick off the first All Points North festival, held on both Thursday and Friday night last week from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

This was the first in what Kingman’s owner Tim Taylor believes will be a long tradition of the festival, which he created to fill the void The Dime left when it closed in early 2011, effectively ending the run of Dimestock.

“Everybody that came out loved it,” Taylor said. “The music was fantastic, all the bands were really great and they put on a good time.”

DJ Lavish and Old Town-based bluegrass band Raw Chicken kicked off the lineup on Thursday, followed by acts such as local DJ duo Digital Bonesaw Society, DJ Pandemic and UMaine student-run band The Poor Folk.

The Mallett Brothers, whose style is described as “northwoods country rock and roll” and who have made their mark on the New England music scene and beyond, played late into the night until electronica group Bootiddy took over.

Mary Plaisted, a fourth-year sustainable agriculture student, loved the music festival and appreciated its variety.

“Having the [three] stages gave me the option of jam bands or heavier dance music,” she said. “All the bands were really chill and great to hang out with after their show.”

Friday night welcomed such talents as Maine’s own Dubstank Digital and UMaine favorite Frank and the Redhots. Early in the night the crowd was sparse, but as the bands played on and the DJs dropped beats, the downstairs — known as the Jam Stage — and the upstairs — known as the Maine Stage or Rage Stage — dance floors began to fill with people eager to appreciate local music as well as some out-of-town acts.

The second floor shared space with alternating DJs and bands throughout the night, as DJs tended to take to the Rage Stage, to the right of the Maine Stage.

As the festival wore on, Bangor-area band Restless Groove took over the Jam Stage. About a week earlier they celebrated the release of their new self-titled EP at Kingman’s and have been keeping busy as they return to the local scene after spending the past few months in Portland.

Jasha Tull, better known to those on the DJ scene as Space Jesus, hails from Philadelphia and made his way to Kingman’s on Friday night to share his spinning expertise. As he performed, several people began to rhythmically spin poi on the dance floor, while another showed off her hula hooping skills.

The Hornitz from Boston were one of a few acts to end the night. They made an impression with their funky jazz numbers featuring lively bass trombone and tenor saxophone stylings. They stood out from jazz-rock bands before them with the addition of a human beatbox and well-manned keyboard to their repertoire.

Roots, Rhythm and Dub was one of the standouts Friday evening, a fusion-reggae band from Portsmouth, N.H., that combined rock, blues, classical, folk, hip hop, jazz and reggae to form a unique sound.

The official ticket sales count was not in by press time, but Taylor estimated sales at around 400. This number was lower than he had hoped, but he has learned from this first run and looks forward to another successful festival next year.

“I’m going to start promotion on it earlier,” he said. “It definitely would have been nicer to have some more people out for it. A lot of people missed out on some great music.”

The Running Gags, an alternative rock band from Windham, capped off Friday’s entertainment, a perfect lead-in to their yet-to-be released album “Yeah, no.”

The Orono-Old Town area has no shortage of local musical talent, and the crowds at Kingman’s on Thursday and Friday were proof of its relevance. All they need is a venue to showcase their talents, and Taylor gave them just that.

“I would definitely do the bands similar to the way I did it this time. The three stages worked out pretty well,” he said.

Just $18 (or $12 for kids) will get you an all-day pass to the Free Range Music Fest, with stages on eight different venues around town. Over 30 bands will perform, including Great Western Plain, When Particles Collide and The Rugged. Passes can be purchased at freerangefest.com, where you can also download a free 19-track sampler featuring songs from the festival’s best bands.

The Way Life Should Be – June 3 to 5 in Brooks

This unique festival will have both music and camping, so bring a tent and get ready to see some of Maine’s finest, including The Running Gags, Gorilla Finger Dub Band and The Cyborg Trio. Only 2,500 tickets are being sold and they’re currently selling for $35 on their website, but will get more expensive as they run out, so act quickly to secure a great time at a great price.

Arootsakoostik – July 7 in New Sweden

Northern Aroostook County will likely be far out of the way for most University of Maine students this summer, but with past performers like The Lucid, Milkman’s Union and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Arootsakoostik could be the destination of a fun weekend road trip. Neither ticket prices nor the lineup have been announced, so like the festival’s Facebook page for updates.

American Folk Festival – August 24 to 26 in Bangor

This big annual event is far more than just a music festival. Aside from bands that have not yet been announced, the three-day event will also feature demonstrations and exhibits of traditional crafts, regional food and treats, and a children’s area to keep the kids and the whole family busy. The suggested donation per day is $10.

KahBang Music & Art Festival – August 9 to 12 in Bangor

Since its first year in 2009, KahBang has established itself as the premier music event in Bangor and one of the rising festivals in New England. The lineup and ticket prices have yet to be revealed, but the past performers inspire confidence in the potential of this year’s acts: My Morning Jacket, Lupe Fiasco, OK Go, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, BoB and Matt & Kim. Like KahBang on Facebook for the latest updates.

Waterfront Concerts in Bangor

It seems there will be few nights this summer when the Waterfront stage is empty. Aside from KahBang, tickets are currently on sale for performances by the Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, the Beach Boys, Zac Brown Band, Rascal Flatts, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Def Leppard, Ted Nugent and many others. Tickets for these and other acts are available on the Waterfront Concerts website.

The play has only ever been produced through the San Quentin Drama Workshop, but the playwright has given permission for the play to be produced by graduate student Gavin Pickering.

The show brings an avant-garde approach to the staging. The back of the theater space is opened up and the audience is placed on the ground level. This makes the space much more intimate and brings the action closer to the audience. There are also security monitors in place to make the audience more involved in the action.

Pickering describes the space as being “as confining as possible.” He says it portrays “how interactions are forced upon each other just because they’re so close to one another.

“The play is perfect for college students because it is about rebellion against authority,” he said.

He went on to explain that each of the actors has brought their own expertise to the production and that the process has been very collaborative. Two of the actors are in the intermedia department and some of their artwork may be incorporated into the play.

Pickering explained that each inmate has different ways of dealing with their imprisonment. The play questions the effectiveness of the modern penal system and the psychological consequences of prison conditions.

The director said his strong interest in these psychological effects and drama therapy are what spurred him to choose this piece.

“This play can make a person think about the human condition,” Pickering said.

The play was written so an audience member can look past prejudices against prisoners and be forced to view them as they are — regular human beings.

The play was written in the ’60s and was performed to sold out audiences on Broadway.  Pickering said the playwright is a former prisoner himself and brings a gritty “realism” to the dialogue. The play contains strong language, violence and sexual content and is for mature audiences only.

While this is Cluchey’s only major work, he has had several other plays workshopped through the San Quentin Drama Project. The play was also adapted into the film “Weeds,” starring Nick Nolte.

“I don’t think there is currently enough theater that challenges that status quo and pushes us outside our comfort zones,” Pickering said. “This show definitely does just that. I don’t like plays where people leave feeling full of love and happiness as much as plays that make the audience leave in silence, really thinking about what they just experienced. I hope for that to happen after people see this show.”

While the original production was performed inside a prison, the Pavilion — which has been given exclusive rights for the performance — has been transformed into a similar setting for the performance.

The show runs April 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. and April 29 at 1 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.

Jimi Hendrix was redefining how every guitarist after him approached the instrument, Black Sabbath was inventing heavy metal, and a certain four blokes from England were getting pretty popular as well.

Obviously, the music died out and today’s soundscape can’t hope to compete with that of past years.

That’s the basis of many of our parents’ arguments when we dismiss their favorite tunes as being for old people. The truth is that music today is better than it has ever been.

People often say they wished they could have grown up in another decade, to have experienced when Bob Dylan was a young songwriter with a nasally voice who liked politics or when the world was shocked by Madonna’s pointy bra. But why would anybody want that?

Here’s the thing about being alive today — we have both today’s music and the stuff that shaped it at our disposal at just about any given time. There has never been a better time to be a music fan than the very second you’re reading this.

The prime decades from long ago are gone, but thanks to the Internet and other technology, we can listen to just about every important piece of music that has ever come out, from Bach to the Beastie Boys.

Without the Internet, you wouldn’t have the same music taste you do now. That may seem obvious, so rather, I should say you wouldn’t have been able to independently form your current opinion on what you like.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but in the ’30s and ’40s, when vinyl records first achieved commercial success, people used to find out about music via the radio, told what was the best thing they could spend their disposable income on.

Some might call them sheep, but there was no other option. The only way to hear an obscure or un-talked-about release was to actually buy it, which wasn’t financially practical then.

The ’80s had MTV to get the word out about bands, but again came the problem that certain types of bands were underrepresented because record label executives deemed them unmarketable.

With the Internet, music fans have more listening options than ever. If you don’t like whatever the current big thing is, there are plenty of resources for you. There are news sites for fans to hear about what’s going on in a niche genre, and online communities where they can congregate and discuss which guitar lick is the best and other intricacies that their real-life friends wouldn’t tolerate listening to for more than a minute.

As a young music listener, I turned to the “dark side” of online music and spent a lot of bandwidth on Napster and LimeWire, downloading whatever I wanted, all the time. This practice is unacceptable by legal standards, but it allowed me to listen to bands I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

I won’t lie and say I’ve completely abandoned illegally downloading music, but I do buy CDs because I like to support my favorite artists. With Spotify and other streaming services, it’s not even necessary to pirate anymore. Sit through an ad here and there and you can listen to almost anything you want.

We are in the midst of a golden age of music discovery and it is a shame to see these resources go to waste, as they often do. Poppy dance music is absolutely fine — I will admit Katy Perry is a guilty pleasure of mine — but it’s close-minded when people don’t have interest in listening to and exploring other types of music.

When all your finals are finished and you finally have some free time on your hands, challenge yourself: listen to an album you wouldn’t have given a second thought otherwise. If you’ve never actually listened to an entire record front-to-back, do that.

A lot of my music discoveries in the past two years were because I had to find a CD to review for The Maine Campus and there wasn’t anything new by anybody I had heard of.

College is a time for trying new things, so if you’re hesitant to take a big leap — like getting a tattoo or studying abroad — finding new music is a small step that can stick with you for a long time.

Seven of these crowd-pleasing stories have made their ways to the big screen, and “The Lucky One” is the latest to join the ranks.

Zac Efron is the swoon-worthy Logan Thibault, a Marine sergeant who has recently returned from his third tour in an active war zone in Iraq. He travels with a backpack, a loyal German Shepherd and a tattered picture of a beautiful woman who is a stranger to him. He discovered the photo while overseas and has held on to it ever since, though he has no idea who she is.

Logan wanders all the way from his home state of Colorado to the small town of Hamden, Louisiana, where he meets the unknown woman in the photo. Her name is Beth Green, played by Taylor Schilling, and she runs a dog kennel adjacent to the farmhouse where she lives with her grandmother Ellie, played by Blythe Danner, and her young son Ben, played by Riley Thomas Stewart.

Logan answers a help-wanted ad for the kennel, and before he knows it, he is employed by the woman he has wondered about for months. Beth’s recent divorce and trust issues hold her back from immediately warming up to the handsome, unassuming Logan, but, with a little push from Ellie, Beth begins to fall for Logan under the Louisiana stars in a match made in Hollywood heaven.

All would be well if it were not for Keith Clayton, played by Jay Ferguson, the local sheriff and emotionally abusive ex-husband of Beth. Keith throws his weight around in typical bad-guy fashion, making empty threats about taking full custody of their son and jealously stalking Logan when he and Beth become more than friends.

The truth about the photo soon comes out and Keith’s reaction tests the strength of the relationship between Logan, Beth and Ben. A whirlwind courtship leads to a laundry list of complications, and Beth must decide if Logan is worth the fight.

Efron has come a long way from the linoleum hallways of “High School Musical,” but his efforts to step out of the role he has been pigeonholed into are not wholly unsuccessful.

He plays the gentle, brooding Logan expertly but shows little more dimension than the wooden sign that advertises the dog kennel. He is shy in the shoes of a sexy, mysterious Marine and seems hesitant to play a leading man who has gone through more than just the stress of a high school chemistry test.

Schilling’s character soon transforms from a moody, doe-eyed single mom into a strong woman who learns to love again with the help of Logan’s good intentions. She is certainly no femme fatale nor a star on the rise, but she works well with Efron as one half of an unlikely romantic duo. She spends most of the film either scrutinizing Efron or giving him puppy eyes, so one can hope she’ll step it up in future acting ventures.

Danner’s talents are underused here as the kindly grandmother who offers occasional comedic relief and words of wisdom as needed. Stewart is an adorable, wise-beyond-his-years young boy who adds just the right dose of sentiment to a film already saturated with sweetness.

At times, “The Lucky One” seems to rush forward at breakneck speed in a sloppy attempt to explain its plot points, but for the most part, it paints a pleasing picture that any diehard romantic can appreciate, despite its predictability.

“The Lucky One” is exactly what audiences can expect from Sparks and the gang: It’s nice to look at, pulls at every available heartstring and ensures that once the lights go up in the theater, every female will be looking at her significant other with a judgmental, dissatisfied eye.

Grade: B

The band embraces “no rules” punk, hard rock, pop-punk, reggae and ska. However, the music of this quintuplet can be easily related to as energetic alternative rock, strongly influenced by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The lyrics appeal to the underpaid, overworked and unappreciated youth. This album isn’t easily identifiable at first listen. The tracks are so infectious that by the fifth listen, you’ll be mimicking each verse like a 5-year-old listening to Barney. If you don’t fancy a song, skip ahead and you’ll more than likely find something you love.

Their charm lies in cliche verses fueled by raw, positive energy. These lyrics deliver the sweets without the sugar-coated faux-reality ever present in the airwaves of today’s modern pop.

The album progresses in an ’80s guitar style with the title track signaling that a “tea party in a glass box isn’t exactly what [they have] in mind.” They begin with the typical love-gone-bad theme song prevalent in any alternative flick, but without the funky kick.

The prog-rock tunes “Wait Now, Don’t Wait” and “Let Me See” trickle in like the end of the weekend blues.

The lyrics in “Let Me See” are the most optimistically creative on the album: “Let me see dreams remembered if ever I only change sides/A call to my evil nature, nurture a furious curiosity/Oh, please, let me see.”

With the killer reggae tune “Just a Tree,” the album switches to another side of the genre Rubik’s Cube. A generously chill alto sax solo picks up in the middle and ends in a drone.

“Old Dog” and “Mr. Invincible” treat the angst of the mid-life crisis victim with power-pop-punk riffs and aggressive jazz influence.

The creative lyrical explosion of all-too-relatable life remains prevalent throughout the songs.

“Though your head is hot, we’re living in a freezer/Drunk or not, you’re never gonna be a geezer, so why even try,” they sing in “Mr. Invincible,” a dose of reality for a lost man stuck in his rebellious days of youth.

“Ms. Direction” slides in with a quiet jazz pick-up and hush vocals that “won’t fool [you] just because you need affection.”

Every album needs a sweet guitar solo and “Just a Rush” fulfills that need.

Overall, the album is a corn maze that will intrigue enough music lovers to attend their CD release party on June 1 at Bull Feeney’s in Portland, which will mark their 45th gig there. The album hits stores tomorrow, so head to your local record shop and support local music.

Grade: B

iTunes, Spotify and similar services make it so convenient to buy music. Browse their libraries, hit a few buttons and the entertainment you want begins downloading on your laptop. Music fans no longer have to undergo the cumbersome process of driving all the way to their local record shop, picking through CDs until they find the one they want and heading back home.

But isn’t that experience one of the best parts of finding new music? Isn’t having a copy of the music in your hands and the ritual of going out to the store a benefit, not an annoyance?

That’s what Bull Moose employee Chris Brown thought when he had the idea for Record Store Day.

“[Brown] was working with the National Association of Retail Merchants,” said Freeman Saunders, manager of Bull Moose in Bangor. “They get together once a year and have a conference and that’s when he came up with it.”

The celebration of independent record stores, the people who own them and their customers has developed into a worldwide event since it was founded in 2007. Held annually on the third Saturday in April, prevalent music acts from around the globe make special appearances in record stores and release limited edition material.

“Basically, it’s a celebration of the record buyer, the music buyer,” Saunders said. “Even though we charge for the stuff, it’s like giving back to the customer with all these special editions, [45 rpm records], LPs, CDs, stuff like that.”

It’s only appropriate that the international phenomenon conceived in the area is observed in Maine, and Saunders says the turnout at Bull Moose is “always strong.”

Across the state, 15 local bands will perform at the 10 Bull Moose locations across the state, including Tricky Britches in Brunswick, Steiner Street in Scarborough and Chris Ross in Bangor.

“He just put the finishing touches on his LP, he’s been down in Nashville [and] he’s been nice enough to come back and do a show for us,” Saunders said of Ross.

Many of the bands putting out releases for Record Store Day have shoppers excited. Indie favorite Animal Collective will have a 12” vinyl of an off-the-wall appearance they performed at New York’s Guggenheim Museum in March 2012. Sludgy metalheads Mastodon and delicate songstress Feist are covering each other’s songs on a split 7” vinyl EP. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros are releasing a disc containing the songs “One Love To Another” and “A Note To The American Democrat,” tracks that aren’t available anywhere else.

Also slated are releases by musicians and groups like Childish Gambino, Florence + the Machine, Fun, the late Janis Joplin and Gorillaz.

“One thing I can tell you is that [there are] 4,000 releases on Record Store Day, but not every store gets them all,” Saunders said. “[You have] got to remember this stuff is ordered in five continents and hundreds of countries. It’s really big, it’s a big deal.”

Although the odds may seem slim that the Bangor Bull Moose will have a specific release, Saunders said he was able to secure copies of records with releases whose production runs as limited as 300 copies.

It’s still unclear what releases the Bangor Bull Moose will have for sale. It seems as though curious parties will have to wait until Record Store Day 2012 on April 21 to find out what they’ll have access to.

“I will have a lot of those new national releases this week,” Saunders said. “I can’t really give you specifics, but I’m going to have a lot of them.”

Many of the one-time-only Record Store Day releases won’t find their way to iTunes, but that’s the beauty of the whole thing. Going out to a record shop and thumbing through music both familiar and unheard of can be a thrilling experience, one that was on the verge of death until one Bull Moose employee had an idea and changed the landscape of music for at least one day of the year.

In 2010, Record Store Day saw a 41 percent boost in sales from 2009’s celebration and last year, over 600 artists participated in in-store festivities. This year, Saunders expects similar success for the day both nationally and in Bangor.

“It’s always good and I expect [this year’s celebration] to be the biggest one yet,” he said.

A complete list of Record Store Day 2012 releases is available on the Record Store Day website and more information on Bull Moose’s state-wide festivities is available on their website.

Made up of 12 percussionists and one conductor, professor Thomas Martin Wubbenhorst, the group played a variety of instruments from snare drums to xylophones to wind machines. The diversity made for an interesting show where no two songs were alike.

“Vous avez du feu?” was the first song, composed by Emmanuel Sejourne. Four of the ensemble members walked to the front of the stage and all the lights shut off, leaving the audience in complete darkness. Then a small light flashed, vanishing as fast as it appeared, then again and again.

All four musicians held lighters in each hand and clicked them on and off. A combination of the clicks of the lighters and the sounds of the members blowing out the flames gave the piece a unique quality.

The next song, “Sleep” by Eric Whitacre, sounded like a lullaby. The audience fell silent and, at times, the musicians played the xylophones so softly it was difficult to hear, forcing the crowd to pay close attention.

The ensemble then played “Equilateral” by Daniel Adams on a trio of triangles. The percussionists showcased a variety of techniques, proving the triangle to be a versatile instrument.

“Packed,” by David Halvorson, began with a few powerful pounds on the drums and cymbals with light tinkers on the xylophone, simulating the sounds of a thunderstorm.

“Double Music” was composed by John Cage and Lou Harrison. According to Wubbenhorst, the two didn’t collaborate much when writing their separate parts. The only thing they had agreed upon from the beginning was that the piece would be 200 meters long and all of the instruments would be made of metal.

The final piece, William Cahn’s “Tides,” was performed by the entire group. Cahn’s inspiration when creating the piece was the sounds from an airplane, particularly those of the propellers. Wubbenhorst warned the audience in advance that there would be two loud bursts of sound, one at the beginning and one at the end.

Despite his warning, the loud pound from one of the snare drums made many audience members jump in their seats. The piece then grew softer, followed by fluctuating crescendo and decrescendo. Each time the volume increased, the anticipation of the next pound grew as well.

At the song’s end, the percussionist who concluded the piece threw his drumstick so hard against the snare that it broke in half, dramatically concluding the lively performance.

The play is written by Alan Ball, the Academy Award-winning writer of “American Beauty,” and focuses on the lives of five southern bridesmaids who hate the bride.

“Each character’s [personality clashes] with witty dialogue and hilarious jokes,” said director Caleb Perry, a second-year theater student.

Perry explained that he wanted to present a show that would resonate with a college audience.

Each character is so distinct that audience members will find a personality to identify with. The content is also risqué enough to draw in a college crowd, covering every topic from a conservative Christian to a sarcastic southern belle who bares her breasts.

All of the action takes place in the sister of the bride’s old bedroom, giving characters the opportunity to open up about their past experiences. The dresses are hideous, but intentionally so, as a great deal of the comedy in the script draws on this.

The play is also produced and funded by Perry, who described the experience as “priceless.”

“There are just some things you cannot learn in a classroom,” Perry said. “With directing, the best way to learn is to do.”

The actors felt similarly about the experience. Goldie Irvine, who plays Trisha, said, “It’s great to finally have a female-centric production. It’s great to act in a role like this. Most of the plays that are produced on campus are male-dominated and this one provides a chance for women to showcase their acting abilities.”

She went on to describe how the play was much different from usual campus productions.

“The play a light-hearted comedy about women in negative situations that help each other get through rough patches and learn about the other characters in the process,” Irvine said. “It ends on a very hopeful note.”

The play touches on a few weighty issues, including abuse, homosexuality and AIDS.

According to Perry, these issues are “approached in a serious way.

“The play has dramatic moments, but the playwright does not let it bog down the audience with seriousness,” he said.

The presence of the social issues in the play also helps to show how much progress, or in some cases how little progress, has been made since the ’90s.

The comedy of the ’90s is really what pushes this script though. You can tell by the way the cast and crew talk about the play that it is going to bring back fond memories of “There’s Something About Mary” or “Drop Dead Gorgeous” that you just do not find in today’s comedies.

The free production will be performed in the Pavilion Theatre on April 19, 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. and on April 22 at 2 p.m.

Cast of upcoming production, ‘5 Women Wearing the Same Dress.’