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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
GAMEDAY
Experience game day without the Fieldhouse
CHRIS SCHADER
editor@kansan.com
Camping for Kansas basketball games is time-consuming and strenuous for students who choose to participate in this tradition. Students who want to attend the biggest games of the season, like Saturday's College Gameday matchup against Texas, must riot only camp for about a week, but they also have to pay for and pick up tickets. Luckily, there are numerous options for students who can't afford or don't have the time to purchase tickets or attend basketball games. Here are the top places where students should go to watch Saturday's game (if they can't make it to the Fieldhouse, of course).
LIBERTY HALL,
644 MASSACHUSETTS ST.
Known by most as a prominent music venue and movie theater, Liberty Hall promotes the fact that they "have the biggest screen in Lawrence to watch KU basketball games. People claim to have the biggest screen to watch games on, but we actually do," said manager Dean Edington. With a different viewing experience than sports bars, Liberty Hall provides patrons with stadium seating, a state of the art concert hall sound system and a full bar for those of legal drinking
age. The doors to the venue open one hour before tipoff, and entry is free.
23RD STREET BREWERY,
3512 CLINTON PARKWAY
JOHNNY'S TAVERN,
401 N. SECOND ST.
23rd Street Brewery is a restaurant filled with Jayhawk pride with dishes like the Charlie Weis, Ritch Price and the Bill Self, but that's not the only reason to go there. The restaurant is one of the most popular places to watch Kansas basketball games because of the atmosphere. Managing partner Matt Llewellyn says that the restaurant is almost always filled with people during Kansas basketball season. "Home games are the best for us because we pack the house before the game and then those people file out. We get to three-quarters or 100 percent full during the game." 23rd Street is also trying to do their part by encouraging their Twitter and Facebook followers to attend College Gameday on Saturday morning inside Allen Fieldhouse.
A Lawrence tradition since 1953, Johnny's Tavern has become a signature location for students and locals to watch Kansas basketball games. Rick Renfro, an owner of Johnny's says the number of students and locals who go to Johnny's
to watch the games is almost equal.
"I'd say it's about 40 percent students and about 60 percent locals," Renfro said. Despite the 8 p.m. tipoff for Saturday night's game against Texas, Johnny's is expecting a packed house. "I think it will be bigger than usual because of College Gameday," Renfro said.
"The beauty of it that we don't really have to promote Gameday to get people to come in; I just have to unlock the doors."
SET'EM UP JACKS,
1800 E. 23RD ST.
Although it's located on the edge of town, Setem Up Jacks has found its niche as a thriving atmosphere to catch a Kansas basketball. Owner Dan Koehn says that although the restaurant isn't located near campus, it's still one of the best places in town to enjoy a game. "We are pretty much full for every home game," Koehn said. "The students that we usually do really well with are the ones that are from around here and that have come in from Kansas City." For the day of the Texas game, Setem Up Jacks will have ESPN on throughout the day to provide patrons with live updates and information prior to tipoff.
Edited by Megan Hinman
Matt Easton, a senior from Libertyville, Ill., is working to avoid the constraints of falling into any one musical genre by creating one that is all his own. Easton is both a rapper and musician and feels that there is a niche in the music market for artists like him.
SCHMIDT HAPPENS
LYNDSEY HAVENS
lhavens@kansan.com
COMIC BY MARSHALL SCHMIDT
Student musician creates genre, avoids constraints
"I first started making rap music freshman year of high school as a joke. I made some albums here and there in this little rap group." Easton said. "I took my music more seriously in college though, and I got into producing during my freshman year. My solo career started when I was a sophomore, once I started making my own beats and playing the piano."
The Matt Easton YouTube channel currently has more than 1.3 million hits. His most noted video among Jayhawks however, is the "Rockchall" rap.
Currently, Easton is focused on branding and marketing. His logo, ME, was created with the help of his manager and co-writer, Brian Taylor. The logo encompasses all aspects of Easton's music and individuality. "We're working with this ME logo, branding the Matt Easton name and what we stand for. The logo represents the individual and touches on the phrase, 'I'm gonna do me'." Easton said.
When asked if he had any musical background, Easton replied that he has had none at all. "My dad plays piano, so my whole life
Musically, Easton is working on a new EP release for iTunes. While creating music is of high priority, Easton also wants to focus on creating more music videos.
Drawing on the musical influences of Coldplay and Eminem—an unusual combination—Easton aims for a cross between the two.
MUSIC
"It didn't blew up the way we thought it would, but I produced that beat and something about it felt very uplifting and family oriented," Easton said. "KU is like a rockchalk family."
"As an artist, music videos are
what you need to get your name out there." Easton said.
I grew up listening to him. I play by ear. Everything has been completely self-taught. I don't know how to read music at all." Easton started composing this past year
For more information, check out:
After graduation, Easton plans on moving back to Chicago and touring college towns.
Facebook.com/
MattEastonMusicFanPage
MattEastonMusic.com
Or follow him on Twitter:
@MattEastonMusic.
Edited by Hayley Jozwiak