Guster to bring eco-friendly practices to campus
This year’s Block Party will do more than just entertain students. With an eco-friendly edge, Guster will encourage students to flock to greener pastures and make environmental changes to their daily lives.
Guster lead singer Adam Gardner and wife Lauren Sullivan created the Campus Consciousness Tour, which will make a stop at Syracuse University this Sunday along with Ben Folds. Guster and Folds are headlining this year’s Block Party event, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.
‘Their initiative is to spread eco-friendly practices across campuses,’ said Kelly Bertog, executive director of concerts for University Union, which organized Block Party.
To promote eco-friendly practices, several activities will be hosted across campus to educate students on how to apply environmentally friendly practices to their daily lives.
The tour is sponsored by Gardner and Sullivan’s environmental nonprofit, Reverb, and as a part of the event, the Reverb Eco-Village will be set up in the Dome at 6 p.m. Reverb’s Web site says there will be games and prizes, and Bertog said there will also be several giveaways.
A film screening of Revolution Green, a documentary about the environment, will be held in Marshall Auditorium (in Marshall Hall of the SUNY-ESF campus) from 1 to 3:30 p.m., with doors opening at 12:30 p.m. Guster’s Adam Gardner will be at the screening and will serve as a panelist in the question and answer session following the film.
Other panelists will include representatives from Reverb, the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to enter a raffle for a meet-and-greet with Guster after the concert.
Concert-goers can also win a meet-and-greet by donating used clothing at the Reverb Eco-Village in the Carrier Dome.
The Eco-Village will also hold a Silk soy milk chugging contest and a Guster eco-video game, among other activities. Prizes for participating in the green activities include bumper stickers, mountain bikes and a year’s supply of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
SU originally tried to book Guster for SU Showcase to go with the day’s environmental theme, but the band was unable to play due to scheduling conflicts, The Daily Orange reported Feb. 18, 2009.
Guster was, however, available to play at UU’s Block Party.
‘We did a lot of marketing research to ensure that they were two favorable acts with students on campus,’ Bertog said. ‘We haven’t really had a band ever really headline Block Party before, so we thought it’d be a unique opportunity to switch it up this year, since it’s usually hip-hop or a pop star.’
Ben Folds played for a sold-out show in Goldstein Auditorium in January 2005. Now he’s back for round two.
Although Ben Folds isn’t directly involved with the Campus Conscious tour, the two bands will be co-headlining the event. The concert will mark Ben Folds and Guster’s reunion following a summer tour the two acts did a few years ago.
‘This is on track to be one of the best-selling Block Parties to date,’ Bertog said.
Published on April 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm
