News travels fast at FAU, because when this reporter sat down with Huntington Beach reggae-rock band Dirty Heads, the first thing guitarist and singer Dustin Bushnell asked was, “What’s up with the football coach?”
Bushnell was referring to former FAU Football Coach Carl Pelini’s resignation over “illegal drug use.” ESPN and other news sources are suggesting marijuana as the substance in question.
But while one coach thought he needed to give up his job because of the drug, the Dirty Heads were singing about marijuana all night with songs like “Believe” and “Smoke Rings.”
Though the UP received mixed responses from students about whether or not they planned on attending, many of the students who did go had a great time.
“I had a great time at the concert,” sophomore mathematics major Kyle Pearson said. “FAU should have more events like this one.”
The show opened with Alex Marley, a reggae singer and guitarist from Jamaica. Marley performed songs including “Ganja” and “Stir it Up,” a 1972 reggae song written by Bob Marley. According to Marley, his grandfather and Bob’s father are brothers. Students began to come into the show while Marley played his slower reggae jams.
Reel Big Fish played next, and by then, the audience section was filled up and tightly packed. Everyone was dancing to the high-energy ska/punk music. Lead singer Aaron Barrett told the fans to expect “a tornado of frantic, fast, fun, ska music,” and that’s exactly what they got with dancy drum grooves, bass lines and horn stabs keeping students dancing for over an hour. They received great responses from students when they played hits like “Sellout,” “Beer,” and “Your Girlfriend Sucks.”
The Dirty Heads played last and had the crowd dancing throughout their set. They played hits from their first two albums including “Lay Me Down,” “Dance All Night” and “Stand Tall,” as well as songs from their newest acoustic album, “Home | Phantoms of Summer,” which was released the day before the show. The Dirty Heads, not unlike Reel Big Fish, also possessed a high-energy sound that had students crowd surfing for the rest of the night.
Senior commercial music major Hannah Perkins, who was one of many students who crowd-surfed, said the band had “an energy so electric it sent me surfing through the sounds.”
The concert had around 1,000 students in attendance, according to 2013 Homecoming Director Jess Gerwig. This was about half as big as last year’s concert, when Pepper, the Supervillains and ARTIKal Sound System performed.
“I think the show was a huge success,” said Student Goverment Coordinator Mike Burdman. He was the one responsible for putting the show on, as well as the last Homecoming concert and bonfire at FAU.
“The bands, crew, production and show as a whole was top notch and it seems like all the students who attended had a great time.” Burdman said. “When I see the students having fun I know we did a great job and I can enjoy it as well.”
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