JAYPLAY
entertainment news
The University Daily Kansan > Jayplay > Thursday, May 4, 2000
"One of the things I always associate with summer is outdoor concerts." - Katie Bartkoak, Brooklyn
Crowd surfers find support at last year's Day on the Hill. This year's event, featuring the Urge, is one of many outdoor concerts in the area this summer. Photo by Mike Kennedy/Jayhawke
Students ride the music fest wave
By BriAnne Hess and
Sindy Greenfield
Kansan staff writers
Say goodbye to Lollapalooa, Lilith Fair and the concert formerly known as Woodstock.
Bands weren't interested in signing up for the all-day rock 'n' roll fest. Sarah McLachlan took a break because she wanted to start a family, and the Woodstock '99 riots perverted the original festival message of peace, love and happiness.
Outdoor music festivals are not dead, however. In fact, several of them will be coming to the Lawrence and Kansas City areas this summer.
Omega Festival at Clinton State Park kicks off the festivities today at 2 d.m.
Chuck Baker, the festival's organizer, has replicated the old Woodstock atmosphere with camping, bonfires and beer.
Hillary Goldberg, Highland Park, Ill., senior, said the three-day extravaganza was the perfect place to spend the weekend before cramming for finals.
You just listen to music, drink, dance, grill and sleep," she said.
Baker booked national and local bands. The Schwag, ekoostik hookah and the Floodplain Gang will perform along with nine other bands.
But when the music stops, the party is
far from finished.
"The only rules out there are no glass and no unkind people." he said
Baker encouraged people planning on bringing beer to bring kegs.
"They're not going to care what's in your cup," he said. "If they see you with a cup in your hand, they'll come talk to you."
The festival began in 1970 with 20 people loading kegs into trucks and listening to music in the cornfields while roasting a pig. By the late '70s, almost 5,000 people were reinventing their living rooms under the stars.
The festival's name, as well as its atmosphere, has transformed from Big Eat to Omegakager to Omega to today's Omega Festival.
"It is one of my favorite times of year." said Angie Uskokovich, St. Louis, Mo., senior. "The weather is always perfect for camping, and it is one of the few times that you can party like that out at Clinton."
Baker said a chunk of the proceeds were being donated to non-profit and nonpolitical organizations such as Meals on Wheels. He said he expected 5,000 to 8,000 people at this year's revelry.
Tickets for the festival can be purchased before the show at The Phil Zone, 1405 Massachusetts St.
On Saturday, Student Union Activities
"You just listen to music, drink, dance, grill and sleep."
Hillary Goldberg Highland Park, Ill., senior
is sponsoring Day on the Hill with headliner The Urge.
Marie Dispenza, live music coordinator for SUA, said there wasn't really a theme to the University festival.
"A lot of the bands don't sound anything alike," she said. "It's representative of the different types of music that are out there."
She said that although The Urge wasn't SUA's first choice, the organization had gotten a lot of positive feedback from students.
Amber Cuevas, Ottawa sophomore, said she was glad the band was coming to Day on the Hill.
Music genres will range from the hiphop group The Co'op, who won the Battle of the Bands at the the Bottleneck two weeks ago, to country-rock band Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys.
"They're upbeat, jump-around type music," she said.
Day on the Hill started out as the Jayhawk Jam in Spring 1978 on the lawn in front of Allen Fieldhouse. In May 1979, the name was changed to Wheatstock.
Throughout most of the 1980s, the annual music festival was called different names and occurred at different times of year.
But in 1989, the festival became Day on the Hill and students camped out on the main part of Campanile Hill. It has since been moved to the west side of the Hill behind Carruth-O'Leary Hall.
Cuevas said she liked Day on the Hill because it was outside and there was a relaxed atmosphere.
"People were lying on the ground and playing frisbee," she said. "It's just a laidback atmosphere. Indoor concerts are too loud because the sound is so confined."
Part of the appeal is the freedom of the outdoors. Dispenza said.
"I think especially this time of year — it’s spring — nice weather," she said. "They spend the whole winter in smoky bars and it's a good feeling to get out of the smoke-filled bars and have a less-restrictive feel to the day."
Some listeners even bring couches to the hill to sit on while they listen, Dispenza said.
Sandstone Amphitheater in Bonner Springs is another nearby outdoor venue that attracts outdoor music festivals.
Katie Bartkoski, Basee junior, lived close to the amphitheater in high school.
"One of the things I always associate with summer is outdoor concerts," she said.
This Year's Outdoor Music Festivals
2 p.m. today, 2 p.m. tomorrow and i n m. Saturday at Clinton State Park.
Omega Festival
■ Admission: advance, $25; day of show, $25
Parking: $10.
Camping: $5.
Bands:
Today: Jose PH, The Draft, Zen Trick-
ers, skoolotik bookah.
Day on the Hill
Tomorrow: New World Gypsies, Chill Factor, Space Pocket, the Schwag.
Admission: Free.
Saturday: Seven Days, Floodplain Gang, Blue Riddim Banc, Acoustic Act, The Big Wu.
Noon to 6 p.m. Saturday on Cam panile Hill.
Rockfest 2000
2:30 p.m. on June 3 at Sandstone
Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs.
Admission: Lawn, $25. Reserved,
$30.
Bands: Stone Temple Pilots, Moist, Blue October, Nickelback, Frankie Machine, Godsmack, Jesse Dupree, The Nixons, 3 Doors Down, Full Devil Jacket, Papa Roach and 8stops7.
Red, White and Boom 2000
Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs.
■ Admission: Lawn, $15.50. Reserved,
$35.50, $25.50.
Bands: Third Eye Blind, EIFFEL 65, Pink, Destiny's Child, Vitamin C, Westfile, BB mark, Enrique Iglesias, Bon Jovi, Melissa Etheridge, Vertical Horizon, Train, Sonique and Blaque.
Ozzfest 2000
Admission: Lawn. $37.75. Reserved.
$49.75.
11:30 a.m. on Aug. 16 at Sandstone Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs.
Admission: Lawn, $37.75. Reservoir
**Bands:** Ozzy Osbourne, Ministry, Kittie, TapRock, Primer 55, Pitchshifter, Disturbed, Crazy Town, The Deadlights, Shuvel, Slaves on Dope, Pump Jack, Pantera, Godmack, Static, X-Inubus, Methods of Mayhem, P.O.D., Queens of the Stone Age.
Admission: Lawn and reserved through May 7, $10.50. Lawn, $14.50. Reserved, $27.50, $22.50, $17.50.
4:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 at Sandstone Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs.
Y'allapaloza 2000
Bands: Lonestar, Tracy Lawrence,
SheDaisy, Sons of the Desert, Jessica
Andrews, Tim Rushlow, The Warren
Brothers, Eric Heatherly.
Tips for Survival
Have access to plenty of bottled water
Wear sunscreen and a hat and try
If you're going to be close to the speakers, wear ear plugs.
Be careful in crowded conditions because they can lead to heat stroke.
- Source: Annis Ellis - Claypool, health educator at Watkins Memorial Health Center
Directions to Sandstone Ampitheatre
Mindy Berns / KANSAN
Omega Festival
Mindy Berns / KANSAN
JAYPLAY inside
The band at Day on the Hill feels the groove. The festival has been a KU tradition since 1978.
contributed photo
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