Indie noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells will headline the Major Activities Board’s (MAB) fall show on November 3rd at 8 p.m., according to MAB Chair and fourth-year Lyndsey McKenna.
The Board hopes that Sleigh Bells will appeal to a diverse crowd in the same way that Matt & Kim attracted audiences to last year’s fall show. “One of the things we based it off of was that Matt & Kim was a good show. We were able to sell out,” McKenna said. “[Sleigh Bells] has a lot of electronic influences [among others]. Their live shows are just phenomenal.”
A Saturday Night Live appearance, a summer of festival gigs, and an ongoing national tour have contributed to Sleigh Bells’s rising popularity, according to McKenna. Because of this growing appeal and visibility, she said they were MAB’s first pick since planning began the week after Summer Breeze.
“Sleigh Bells were our top [choice] and we really thought that they would be an appropriate, engaging, and just exciting act,” she said. “When it comes down to it, we had other options in mind, but as backup.”
The band will be performing a sold-out concert at Metro in Chicago the night after MAB’s fall show. Originally, they were slated to perform at Metro before the quarter began, but a skating accident involving one of their touring band members caused them to reroute their tour. Because of the scheduling change, some students may already have $21 tickets to see Sleigh Bells at Metro the night after they perform on campus.
“We had committed to the act ages and ages ago. Unfortunately, that was an unforeseeable incident,” McKenna said.
MAB tried to announce the fall show as early as possible to give people opportunities to adjust their plans. “We didn’t want people to feel disappointed if they did get tickets [to the Metro show]. Hopefully they can reassess their ticket options,” she said.
The Board has yet to announce the opening acts for the concert and could not talk about them due to legal complications, according to McKenna.
This year’s fall show will cost concert-goers the same as last year’s Matt & Kim concert. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for faculty and staff in advance, and $10 for students and $15 for faculty and staff the day of the show, if available.
