Unlike previous years, Bumstock took place in the Field House, a move meant to drum up attendance after cold weather and rain in past years drove people away. Total attendance was unclear, as many students came only for one or two bands. Joe Mollo, director of Campus Activities and Events, said staff handed out about 1,000 bracelets, but there never seemed to be more than 300 people in the Field House at any time.

Security was everywhere, with more than 25 security workers from Atlantic Professional Services and about a dozen University of Maine and Orono police in attendance. “We were anticipating 2,800,” said associate dean of students Angel Loredo. “That’s the maximum the building can hold, so we had to plan for that.” The abundance of security guards was imposing and made the concert feel over regulated.

Bumstock started out rocky when metal act and Sophomore Owls’ Battle of the Bands winners Hour Past left the venue just as they were scheduled to play. According to Derek Mitchell, vice president of Student Entertainment, the band had brought about 30 of their fans. To accommodate the band, officials waived the rule that only University of Maine students and one guest per student could attend.

Rather than have their fans pay the $20 admission fee for non-students, the band wanted them to get in for free, “which was just unreasonable,” said Mitchell, and Bumstock organizers turned down the band’s request. In protest, members of Hour Past packed up their instruments and walked offstage.

The fiasco put southern Maine’s Sparks the Rescue in the position of opening the show. The young band, whose fans had come from as far as New Jersey to see them, was happy to oblige. They opened with “The Scene Your Bedroom” from their new demo EP, which hit stores Tuesday.

Singer Alex Roy writhed, kicked and spun like a man possessed. Whenever he didn’t have a line, Roy swung his microphone wildly over his head, sometimes hurling it upward only to have it fall on himself or the floor. He later admitted he wasn’t used to the big stage lights, and that whenever he threw the mic, he’d lose track of it in the glow above him.

The guitar and bass players were almost as wild, and it was a testament to the band’s skill that they could play so tightly while constantly jumping and dancing. But the real measure of success came a few songs into the set: They got audience members dancing to an opening band.

The band chatted the audience up between every song. After “Saco Boys Have No Class,” singer-guitar player Toby McAllister asked who if the audience was on MySpace, a social networking Web site. They encouraged everyone to add them as MySpace friends, and McAllister even promised, “If you leave us a comment, we’ll comment back.”

The band thanked everyone graciously, and McAllister asked the audience to give a round of applause to the catering service. For a band accustomed to playing VFW halls and never having catered food, Sparks the Rescue had no trouble moving to a bigger stage.

Even without synth player-vocalist Marty McMorrow, who was out for personal reasons, Sparks the Rescue gave a powerful performance. Although Roy had never been to Bumstock before, he lamented the end of UMaine’s traditional music festival. “This is the last Bumstock ever,” he said before their set. “It’s sort of sad.”

Toronto reggae-rockers Bedouin Soundclash played next. The three musicians didn’t talk or move around as much, but their confident, adept musicianship drew in a large section of the audience. The band recently won New Group of the Year in the Juno Awards, Canada’s version of the Grammys, and the reasons were evident.

Their sound was reminiscent of The Clash’s reggae era. In fact, their set-closing medley cover of U2′s “New Year’s Day” included a section of “The Guns of Brixton,” by The Clash.

Patrick Anderson, a fourth-year interdisciplinary studies student, said he was a fan of Bedouin Soundclash. “I’ve never seen them before,” Anderson said, especially complimenting the rhythm section. He danced through most of their set. The only problem was poorly-placed lighting that burned students’ retinas for minutes at a time. Bedouin Soundclash drummer Pat Pengelly was seen ducking his head, trying to avoid a red light shining in his eyes. Still, their reggae often surpassed the softer songs of headliners State Radio.

Boys’ Night Out had cancelled when their drummer was hospitalized, so headliners State Radio were the third and final band of the night. Before their set Chad Stokes, lead singer of State Radio and formerly of Dispatch, was told this was the last Bumstock. “Not if we can help it,” Stokes said, and keeping the tradition alive became a theme throughout State Radio’s performance.

The band was a powerhouse onstage, alternating between melodic reggae and huge stadium rockers. Their guitars alternately rang and squealed, and Stokes’ voice soared across the mostly empty Field House.

State Radio’s new drummer Mike Najarian had been with the band for less than a month, and while he insisted before the show he wasn’t yet comfortable with their songs, his drumming was spot-on. He played along with all their songs’ dynamics and gave their sound a strong backbone.

During a long instrumental section, Stokes stopped to encourage the audience to sign a petition at State Radio’s merchandise table about the genocide in Sudan. “There’s a genocide going on and we need to put pressure on Washington D.C.,” Stokes said. “I think, as young people, we don’t realize the power we have.” The crowd roared in encouragement, and a line soon formed at the merchandise table.

In another speech, Stokes echoed his “Bumstock lives” message: “There will be another Bumstock. You just have to believe it will happen.” The messages never detracted from the music. In their last song, Stokes burst into a two-minute reggae rap with surprising timing and breath control. The swell of cheering afterward confirmed his success.

The last song began ended with the reggae refrain sped up and morphed into blistering punk rock. They left the stage and, of course, obliged the audience’s request for “one more song.” For a few hundred students in a huge, empty room surrounded by dozens of security guards and police, State Radio were the perfect final gasp for a dead tradition.

So what went wrong?

Over the years, university regulations and restrictions on the festival have reduced it to the point where it became unfeasible to continue. Though the beer may have been missing from Bumstock for years and years, the spirit of Bumstock has been chipped away slowly. The age restrictions. The reduction of the duration to one day. Invasive required pat-down searches. Overabundance of security, just to name a few.

This year was the worst of all, as the control of the event was handed over to the university so that it would be covered by UMaine’s insurance policy. While this measure was taken in order to save money, it only served to make the event all the less enjoyable.

This year, non-students were only welcome in the company of a UMaine student, and Bumstock planners were prohibited from advertising the event off-campus. Security at the event – over 25 hired security officials and at least 10 UMaine police officers – was grossly disproportionate to the number of attendees. Catering and vendors were ruled out as a possibility. Even our campus radio station, WMEB – which had been a large presence at the event in years past – was not permitted a table at the event due to fire codes.

Only four years ago, UMaine took No. 1 of the Princeton Review College Rankings for “More to Do on Campus.” This year, UMaine was absent from the 20-strong list. If officials want to entice students to the campus, then they should be more willing to work with students to make events like Bumstock possible.

Saturday will mark the last chapter in a 34-year concert series, which has suffered from a combination of dwindling attendance accompanied with complications of getting a big-name act to come to Orono over the last few years.

The origins of the concert were humble: In 1972, UMaine student Bruce Gram and several of his friends organized the festival and named it “Bumstock.”

As the concert grew, so did certain product demands, namely beer. The festival made UMaine history by serving beer to students. Residence Life and Programs gave $600 to the organizers to purchase beer. Just three years after giving funds for beer, RLP said that it would no longer support the event if beer was handed out. This instituted a BYOB policy which did not last long, as beer was eventually banned from the event altogether.

In 1988, organizers decided to move Bumstock from The Cabins, which were located in the woods just beyond Grove Street Extension, near what is now Sawyer Environmental Research Center, to several different areas. The event continually moved from The Cabins to an area behind Fogler Library, to an area behind Wells Commons, and eventually set up a permanent home on the field that now hosts the annual music festival on Rangeley Road.

In the last five years, names such as Fat Joe were slotted to play the event but never showed up. The most well-known case of cancelling headliners was when Method Man and Redman were scheduled to perform. Instead of the “How High” duo showing up, other Wu-Tang Clan members Cappadonna and Ghostface Killah played at the event.

“It’s changed a lot and if the alumni saw it now compared to when it first started, they would see that it has changed,” said Vice President of Student Entertainment Derek Mitchell. “It’s gone from people playing frisbee and listening to bands they may not have heard of to now where it’s hard to draw college students without the big name at the event.”

“They want to look at the poster to see who the big name is and then decide if they will come.”

Plans to cancel the event were annoumced during the March 28 meeting of the General Student Senate.

Then in 2004, Bumstock was turned into a one-day concert, where the weather went through a series of cycles; first raining to hailing to sunshine and blue skies in a two to three-hour span. Last year, conditions were once again less favorable as a threat of rain loomed throughout the day.

Besides the weather, another problem Bumstock faced was the future of Cabins Field as it went from a grassy surface to play Frisbee on to an ever-growing parking lot with a stage, thus forcing the move into the Field House.

“I was surprised when they turned it into a one-day event and I am looking forward to the mtvU event. If they redirect their money towards something like that, I’d be pleased,” said Travis Bourassa, a UMaine student since 2002. “I had a really good time the first year and the second year was all right, too, but I feel that I am too old to stand out in the rain and listen to music I do not really care about.”

Although the tradition may end there is a chance that another spring festival could be held in the near future.

Mitchell said the success of the final Bumstock in the fieldhouse could determine how things work in the future for another spring music festival.

He also said having an event at the end of the year is good for campus morale since it can allow people to relax during the last week of classes before Finals week begins.

“I think having some sort of a spring festival is a good thing. As far as what it should contain, I don’t know,” said Mary Grose, a third-year student from Winslow. “If it’s here for us, then let us decide what we want in it.”

“From what I know, Bumstock used to be a tradition, but it’s not anymore. Traditions only last so long.”

Bumstock timeline

1972

Bruce Gram founds Bumstock at UMaine

1975

Attendance tops 600; Res Life gives the festival’s organizers $600 for beer

1976

Then UM President Howard R. Neville imposes a 10 p.m. curfew on Bumstock

1977

Bumstock becomes a BYOB event as Res Life pulls free beer funding

1980

Officials describe UM life as “a zoo” and decide they would like to change Bumstock

1981

Bumstock is subject to more regulations; only university community welcome

1989

Orono Town Council puts pressure on university to move the concert site from Cabins field.

1998

The beer tent for staff is done away with, removing all presence of legal drinking at the event

1999

Godsmack headlines Bumstock, making way for the era of big headliners.

2004

The event changed from a two-day to a one-day affair

Stokes said his new band “will be pretty familiar” to Dispatch fans. “It’s not night and day,” the guitarist and lead singer added. State Radio is more rock and reggae-centered than Dispatch, but the biggest difference fans will notice is the political message.

“We’re trying to get people to talk about issues that I think the youth of this country need to take ownership of,” Stokes said. One track from the brand-new album “Us Against the Crown” takes a hard stance against the war in Iraq, with a verse directed toward President Bush. “You tried to recreate Normandy/ But you made up the reason to fight,” Stokes sings on “Camilo.”

The singer explained that the song is about Camilo Mejia, a Staff Sergeant in the Army Reserves who’d already served his two tours and was called back for another one in Iraq. He went, but while home on leave, Mejia “decided he couldn’t return. His conscience wouldn’t let him,” Stokes explained. Mejia claimed status as a conscientious objector, “but that didn’t go over well with the military, so he was put in prison for about nine months.”

State Radio is the political-leaning band Stokes has wanted to put together for a long time. “I think in Dispatch I was a little more careful about what I wrote about because of the way the other two guys might feel about wording that may be too strong,” he said. Stokes said he doesn’t have that problem anymore because his new bandmates, bass player Chuck Fay and drummer Mike Najarian, “see things from almost exactly the same angle.”

Stokes’ politics are influenced by his free-spirited upbringing and his colorful past. After high school, Stokes traveled to Zimbabwe for six months with a friend. There, he taught school and played soccer.

Later, while working at a camp on Martha’s Vineyard for disabled children, Stokes began a documentary called “How’s Your News.” The children at the camp interviewed people around the country. “We’d go around the country to different events and we’d cover these different goings-on, whether it be smash-up derbies or carnivals or regular city parks where we’d interview people,” Stokes said.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of “South Park,” helped fund the project after viewing one of the “How’s Your News?” 10-minute videos. Stokes said, “Through a friend of a friend they happened to see one and loved it.” The documentary played at major international film festivals, and a new DVD is soon to be released where the HYN team interviews politicians and celebrities including Newt Gingrich, Michael Moore, Andre 3000 and Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain and John Edwards.

Bumstock Director Andrew Gerke said he was aware of Stokes’ success and fame. “I knew they were big when they were around, and that they’re really popular here. I thought they were the biggest bang for our buck.”

State Radio is one of few bands today with a political message. “I feel like there’s just a handful, and unfortunately just a few of them are mainstream bands,” Stokes said, naming Led Zeppelin, Cat Stevens and Rage Against the Machine as the band’s heroes. Those attending Bumstock should expect petitions and information at State Radio’s merchandise table.

“It’s an opportunity to realize the power of the people and we try to encourage that,” Stokes said of his band. “I don’t think we’d be involved in music if we didn’t think that there was something deeper than just the music itself.”

State Radio’s new album, “Us Against the Crown,” hit stores Feb. 7, and on April 22 they’ll be the second-to-last band ever to play Bumstock, opening for headliners Boys’ Night Out.

Derek Mitchell, the vice president for student entertainment announced that Bumstock will not be continued after this year.

Mitchell made the announcement at the last meeting of the General Student Senate on March 28.

According to Mitchell, this decision had been in the works for some time.

“This has been a decision I have been thinking about for the last few months when it comes to evaluating the financial position of Student Entertainment since I have taken office,” Mitchell said. “It’s a difficult situation since you have fewer attendees but the costs skyrocketing.”

The attendance for last year’s event was less than 1,300 people. As figures show, the event cost $51 per attendee.

Over the years, Student Government has had to take an extra $20,000 from other sections to offset the cost of security, which is around 37 percent of the Bumstock budget.

Although the extra money has usually been allocated, Mitchell has faced the problem of finding a headliner.

“This year there were a lot of difficulties because April 22 is a popular date, and that is when a lot of universities are booking their spring festival,” Mitchell said.

“Bumstock, in that regard, has suffered blows by trying to find a headliner.”

Possible headliners included bands such as Coheed and Cambria, Dropkick Murphys and Morningwood, who opted not to play the event.

Even though an increase to the student activity fee could help in getting a bigger name, Mitchell felt Bumstock would not be worth saving.

Bumstock, which was created in the 1960s, has been a mainstay among the campus community.

Despite its popularity, attendance and interest in the event started going downhill when a culmination of non-attending headliners and lack of a venue started to become issues.

“When I first heard the news, I knew that a lot of people liked Bumstock so I was not sure how that was going to go over,” said Senator William Pomerleau. “Actually looking at the financial situation, as well as the lack of turnout, it does not seem like that bad of an idea to get rid of it.”

The money that usually goes to fund Bumstock will go toward getting larger acts for concerts next year.

Before Mitchell’s announcement, professor Chris Campbell spoke to the GSS about the removal of the mall trees.

Campbell’s 20-minute presentation chronicled the mall’s history and why replacing the 39 trees was important.

Although the members of the GSS seemed to be in favor of the change, some of their opinions may have changed when students in attendance were against the move.

“The trees should be left alone until they are dying,” said Nicole Mercier, who spoke out against the tree removal. “There is no point in having more construction since there is so much of it already going on campus.”

For the second consecutive meeting, the GSS was without President Brigham McNaughton and Vice President Aaron Sterling.

Although McNaughton’s whereabouts have not been disclosed, Sterling went to Boston for medical reasons.

Pomerleau, who has been running the meetings for the past few weeks stated, “Aaron should be fine and we expect him to be back soon.”

For the first time in years, the Bumstock committee made a tough decision that benefits UMaine students. They decided to divert a significant portion of the Bumstock budget to bring mtvU’s Campus Invasion to UMaine.

Declining attendance and rising costs have put the university behind the eight ball on the issue of Bumstock. Each year more and more students complain that it is a huge disappointment, yet they will also complain if it is disbanded. This is a step in the right direction: the phasing-out.

The decision to send concert money elsewhere will diminish Bumstock, that’s for sure. But this money will be sent to a better-organized and more-experienced staff that knows how to plan a concert. Besides, a concert is a concert, who cares what banner it’s under?

Admitting that someone else can do it better was a bitter pill for the Bumstock committee to swallow, but it was a decision made with the students in mind.

Orono Town Council makes a compromise

Disappointment followed the Orono Town Council election results with students fearing that their opinions and wishes would continue to be disregarded in a town where they make up about half the voting population. Three UMaine students were defeated in their bids for council seats after the Town Council’s decisions threatened to close a popular venue for student entertainment.

In light of recent events centering on the power struggle between UMaine students and the residents of Orono, the revival of the UMaine Relations Committee is one welcomed step towards a more harmonious relationship between the two groups.

Open communication is important and having this, hopefully enduring venue for discussion, will help to avert future discontent and misunderstandings. In subsequent years it may be advantageous to allow students to make the decision of which students will sit on the panel to represent them as well.

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.

Mitchell attributes the new rule to the effort to keep security risks under control and public safety costs down. He said that the goal for the show is to provide a venue to have fun and a relaxed atmosphere, and that the new rule is one of the initiatives they are taking in order to do that.

“It might not be a popular opinion, but at this point, it’s something that needs to be done,” Mitchell said. “We don’t want it to become some out of control secure event; we just want people to have fun.”

“[Non-student admission] is not a revenue builder. It doesn’t generate a whole lot of money,” said Andrew Gerke, this year’s Bumstock director.

Gerke said that he does not believe the new admission policy will affect attendance. Gerke said that the Bumstock committee is assuming that the show will be as well attended as it has been in past years.

The two bands who have officially been named to perform on April 22, along with Sophomore Owls Battle of the Bands winner Hour Past, will be State Radio and Boys Night Out. Mitchell said that they are also in negotiations with a couple of other bands, although he could not disclose who just yet.

Gerke said that the bands the committee has chosen this year represent the general idea of what college students listen to.

“What we heard from the students is that it didn’t introduce every aspect of every genre of music, because you’re trying to provide a concert for everyone,” Gerke said about Bumstock. “You look at State Radio, formerly Dispatch, they have the jam band-acoustic type of feel to them. Then Boys Night Out is the rock kind of heavy, raw material and Hour Past is more of an alternative, something you’d hear on CYY spinout.”

“It’s hard, because it’s something for everyone,” Gerke said. “It’s almost impossible to please everyone, so, I mean, that’s what we’re here for.”

Gerke said that for the next two acts, the committee is looking for bands that encompass two types of music not yet represented at Bumstock.

The musical side of the event was set up with two stages, allowing for an almost constant stream of sound throughout the gym. The bands played for the entire carnival crowd, but also to three judges from the Bumstock committee who would decide which band went on to play the festival on April 22. Judges included Pattie Barry, Maine Campus Style Editor, as well as Bumstock Director Andrew Gerke and Wayne Clarke, also a member of the committee.

“We’re looking for maturity in experience as well as technical ability,” Gerke said. “Anyone can play an instrument, but not anyone can know how to play for a crowd.”

Clarke agreed. “It’s important to be comfortable in front of a live audience, but you want the audience to be comfortable, too. If a band is so in your face that you have to back up, then that’s a problem.”

The evening started out with Duck and Cover, a pop-punk band that played an energetic, spirited set that rumbled through the entire gym. The crunching emo sound of Seal Man Investigation followed, and they were followed in turn by The High End – so named, it seems, because most members of the band are over six feet tall. They mixed covers of Neil Young and Led Zeppelin with originals in a similar spirit. By 9 p.m., the crowd started to grow, and Highway Jackson took the stage with some classic rock-inspired originals.

The band Disaster Complex took the stage with a punishing blend of hardcore and metal, which seemed downright surreal alongside cotton candy, wax hands and snow cones. The most unique sound of the night came from the band Murder Weapon, who fused rockabilly, surf, swing and what sounded like some Russian folk influences into a hardcore stew, topping it off with a caustic stage banter that alienated the crowd and judges alike.

“They were kind of jerks,” said freshman Chelsea Douglas. The band not only insulted the event, but also the Bumstock festival. Judge Clarke was unimpressed. “You can’t play to get into a show and then dis the show you’re trying to get into.”

The Bay State was a welcome relief, with great stage presence and a unique sound, fusing the punk rock style of the Clash with electric violin. By this point, the judges seemed uncertain who would get the vote for Bumstock 2006, and Clarke said the slot “could go anywhere.”

The last band to take the stage was Hour Past, a band out of Biddeford that made the two-and-a-half hour voyage to play in the Battle. With a unique backdrop of gothic imagery and a dark sound reminiscent of Type O Negative, Hour Past won the crowd with a slowed down cover of Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me,” the famous closer to “The Breakfast Club.” The sound as a whole was danceable without being too poppy, dark without being too angry, and the crowd responded positively. So did the judges, and the last band of the evening ended up winning the battle.

“I actually thought you guys had already called the winners,” said the lead singer, who goes by the name Coopa. Turns out he heard the names of the fraternities and sororities being called out and thought he was hearing the results of the battle he was playing in. Nonetheless, he was excited about playing the show. “We don’t get to play in front of kids that often. Usually it’s 21-plus clubs, and they’re drunk or didn’t really even come to see a band. This was cool because the audience was really into it.”

Second place went to Highway Jackson, and third place went to The Bay State, both bands to watch in Orono. Hour Past hopes to have a CD by the time they play Bumstock, but in the meantime you can check them out on MySpace by searching for “Hour Past,” or you can find them at Hour-Past.com.