[img id=”80227″ align=”alignleft”] The Roots and Spoon will perform at the Major Activities Board’s (MAB) Summer Breeze concert on May 19 in Hutch Courtyard.
The Roots are a Grammy Award–winning hip-hop group from Philadelphia, well known for their albums Illadelph Halflife (1996), Things Fall Apart (1999), and most recently, Game Theory (2006). They formed in 1987 and have since won the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy for “You Got Me” (featuring Erykah Badu), and have been nominated for five Grammy awards since, among a host of other awards.
Spoon, an indie band formed in 1994 in Austin, TX, have garnered their greatest accolades in the past ten years. Though they are slightly less established than the Roots, third-year MAB chairperson Justin Fleming explained the organization’s choice of Spoon as a response to the group’s popularity among University students, a factor MAB had measured through both word of mouth and Facebook.
“Spoon—really popular. It adds another dynamic to the show that will bring in even more students,” Fleming said. “The important thing is just that we’re really making an effort to bring in the most students as possible. As Summer Breeze is our largest show, we were aiming for as diverse a line-up as possible.”
The Roots offer a more universal appeal, Fleming said. “They kind of transcend genres, even though they’re considered a hip-hop band.”
Second-year MAB member Sydney Chernish agreed with Fleming.
“We were looking for more mainstream acts this year,” Chernish said. “Last year was George Clinton, who was awesome, and now we wanted someone who would totally grab people’s attention to an even greater degree.”
This year, Summer Breeze will feature two acts instead of its usual three. George Clinton performed along with Dar Williams and RJD2 as opening acts last year.
“In the past we’ve had one big headliner and smaller acts that function as exposure to newer music,” Fleming said. “This year we’re focused on bigger names and bringing in more students. By choosing two acts instead of three, we can afford two bigger name acts.”
Tickets will be on sale starting Wednesday May 2nd in the Reynolds Club from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and are $15 for students and $20 for faculty, staff, and lab school students. On the day of the show, all tickets prices will increase by $5.
