It appears that the University Park Undergraduate Association presidential campaigns of both David Adewumi and Christian Ragland have been accused of violating the UPUA's elections code. While both candidates are pleading not guilty, they will find out their fate at the board meeting later tonight.
If found guilty, Adewumi faces his second violation of the campaign and could incur a 10% decrease in campaign financing because of a student wearing an unstamped "Adewumi For President" flag. This would be in addition to his previous 4% decrease. Ragland, however, faces a possible 16% decrease in campaign funding, due to two incidents involving Ragland campaigners ripping down Adewumi posters.
We'll have the full details later tonight after the hearings.
Last night, local group British Phil won the Movin' On Battle of the Bands, winning the top prize of a 55 minute set right before the headliner at Movin' On on Saturday, April 17.
In addition, their single will be put in the rotation of local radio station B94.5, which sponsored the event. The three runners up, So Long, Pluto; The Hope Fallacy; and West Gate will all play 45 minute sets at Movin' On.
Read on for the full scoop.
Penn State's spring just got a bit louder and a lot more awesome.
Kickin' rad noise rock duo No Age will be the headlining act at this year's Arts Crawl, sponsored by SOMA. In an email, Devan Kochersperger, SOMA's Arts Crawl Chair, shed some more light on the event.
The event (our biggest of the year, also organized with the Visual Arts Student Alliance) is April 9th 2010. It will take place in the Arts buildings on campus (Visual Arts, Patterson, Borland, etc.). The local/regional band lineup has not been finalized yet, but there should be around 12 other bands in addition to the headliner No Age [...] This is one of the bigger bands SOMA has booked. Local bands will play staggered sets around the 'crawl' from 6 until 10PM, which is when doors to the headliner's room will open. At 10:30 No Age will take the stage in 315 Visual Arts Building. There will also be student minstrals who will improv music to guide visitors from building to building.
Although I'm curious as to what being a "student minstrel" entails, I'm more excited about No Age coming. SOMA seems to know what they're doing when it comes to booking acts. Maybe they should have a say with the music selection for Movin' On and UPUApaloozathonsaraswatifestfinale.
While a good deal of the concert-going student body was moshing to Flogging Molly last night, a very different kind of show was going on "across the pond" (or across Shortlidge at the Eisenhower Auditorium). Bela Fleck, banjo wizard supreme, presented "The Africa Project", a musical collaboration between him and musicians he found when traveling to Africa to learn about the history of the banjo.
Read on for a more detailed account of the evening.
State College Music Spotlight is a new feature at Onward State where we find local artists in the State College area and share them with the community.
These guys have something special.
Johnny Action Figure is a quartet based in Philadelphia, PA. The band is made up of guitarists/vocalists Brendan Fullam and Chris Sheehan (the latter of which is a Penn State album from 07!), bassist/vocalist CF Fullam, and drummer Brad Rittle. On their latest release, Good Eye, Johnny Action Figure shows a future for pop rock as it could be. You'll find no auto-tune gimmicks or flashy egos here, just four guys who have great ears for melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and how they can all go together.
Good Eye is a very confident, sincere album, where everything seems to be done for the purposes of producing a solid sound. For instance, the second track on the album, "Young Rider", incorporates 3-part harmonies, doo-wop backing vocals, horns, transitions from 4/4 to 3/4, a walking bassline, and two guitar solos in just over three and a half minutes - yet none of it comes off as gimmicky, show-offy, or unnecessary. It's clear that these four chaps have excellent technical prowess on their respective instruments, but they show enough restraint to not come off as obnoxious.
Read the full post for more.
It's a canning weekend. That means that a good amount of your friends are out getting some last minute THON money (or simply going home to escape a zombie campus). For those of us who decided to stay in town tonight, though, there was a treat - Dr. Dog performing live at the State Theatre!
Read on to find out what you missed.