Free Augustana concert shows spunk
Augustana warmed up to the crowd of incoming freshmen.
Aug. 26, 2008
Augustana frontman Dan Layus performs at this year's Fall Welcome concert Saturday on Hitt Street in front of Memorial Union. The concert was co-sponsored by the Missouri Students Association/Graduate Professionals Council College Music Committee and the Panhellenic Council.
When the sun went down Saturday night, lights on the stage erected in front of Memorial Union glowed brightly. They flashed and swirled and highlighted the musicians' bodies as the group played for a crowd of about 2,500 students there for the free concert.
The Missouri Students Association/Graduate Professionals Council Department of Student Activities and Panhellenic Council were able to attain the popular band Augustana for a free Fall Welcome concert.
"We were looking around for bands," said Rachel Grabowski, College Music Committee senior chair, about deciding which musical act to hire for the show. Other bands contending for the gig were Motion City Soundtrack and Cartel.
"Augustana opened for O.A.R at an event I did in Kansas City and they had the hit song 'Boston,'" Grabowski said. "We were also trying to appeal to the sororities and fraternities, because it was also a Bid Day concert."
The concert turned out to be a success, though Grabowski said the committee anticipated 5,000 students in attendance. Only around half that number arrived.
Before Augustana took the stage, opening band The Hibernauts revved up the crowd. Grabowski said DSA searched Myspace.com for bands that were popular in either Kansas City or St. Louis to open the show.
"The opening band was a little generic, but it was a good live show," freshman LeeAnn Elias said.
After playing their tunes for about 45 minutes, they finished and the crowd was ready for the main act. After a long set change, Augustana took the stage clad in tight jeans and tattoos.
Lead singer Dan Layus seemed to lack stage presence, though, because he sang and played his guitar hunched over without paying much attention to the audience.
As he was strumming along and singing, a loud reverb from the speakers shook the stage and Lavus stopped playing. He stepped back with a look of disgust and anger on his face, and stared at the audio booth.
"Sorry, that feedback is kind of ..." Layus said, pausing to shrug. "You can't ignore that, so just pretend. Let's go back to the song."
The crowd supported this move.
"It was really comical, and we got to know the band's personality because of the feedback," freshman Cassie Kamp said.
Elias said she enjoyed Layus speaking out, because it showed that though it was a free concert for college kids, he still cared about the quality of the performance.
"It was the first time he interacted with the audience," Kamp said. "I hate it when bands don't acknowledge us. It showed they weren't pompous assholes."
After the first feedback incident, some kind of a spark must have gone off in Layus, because after that he seemed to click to life and chatted with the crowd at random moments.
Layus showed an emotional side when introducing a later song.
"This is a song about the love of my life," he said, then paused for dramatic effect. "It's called 'I Still Ain't Over You.'"
The crowd let out a collective sigh.
"Mizzou is easily the best college nickname ever, and I'm not just kissing your ass, I promise," he said, asking the crowd if MU has a specific cheer. The response was a large-scale reenactment of the "MIZ-ZOU" chant common at football games.
Grabowski said the band was really easy to work with. The committee surprised the guys by putting various video game consoles in their dressing room, which they stayed to use after the show.
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