Though few have heard of the band slated to open at Spring Fling, students anticipate a good show.
Scratch Track, which will perform ahead of Of A Revolution at the April 7 concert, calls itself "a new acoustic trio that blends funk, folk, hip hop, rock, and gospel" on its myspace.com account.
The Tennessee-based trio will be touring with O.A.R. this spring, so Social Planning and Events Committee Concerts officials accepted the opening act with the main band.
"It's definitely something you don't hear very often," said Engineering and Wharton senior Matt Mizrahi, the co-director of SPEC Concerts, about the group, adding that it "just [went] with what they gave us."
Tickets for the concert will be sold on Locust Walk today. They will cost $20 this week, $25 the following week and $30 on the day of the show.
Wharton sophomore Jack Abraham said he is looking forward to seeing Scratch Track because he expects their music to be similar to O.A.R.'s.
"I've never heard of [Scratch Track], but a band like O.A.R. or Dave Matthews will find chill bands like this and take them across the country with them and that's how these bands come to be," Abraham said.
Many bands have a sound similar to O.A.R.'s jam-band-influenced rock, Abraham said, but do not receive significant publicity. Scratch Track's position on the tour "could be a blessing" for their future career, he added.
College freshman Sarah Seligman said that she had been looking forward to seeing who would be playing with O.A.R.
"There's always a sense that if you like a band, their choice for an opener should be someone they approve of, or whose musical style is similar," Seligman said.
J.P. McNeil, an Engineering senior and O.A.R. fan, said that the opening act is insignificant.
"To me, it doesn't matter who the opening band is," McNeil said. "O.A.R. is the reason I'm going to the concert."
He added that opening bands at past O.A.R. shows have been a pleasant surprise.
"I've seen O.A.R. in the past. The bands that open for them in my experience have been pretty good. I generally get pretty excited about them and buy their music" after the concert, McNeil said.
Abraham thinks that the student body is much more satisfied with this year's choice for a Spring Fling main act.
"I'm really psyched for O.A.R. They'll certainly be a hell of a lot better than Sonic Youth," Abraham said, citing last year's main act, which garnered little enthusiasm from students.
Abraham added that most people should enjoy O.A.R.'s musical style.
"That genre of music is one that anybody can at the very least tolerate and enjoy," Abraham said.
Students who already like O.A.R. are expecting to appreciate Scratch Track's music.
"If you're a fan of [O.A.R.'s] music, ideally you should like the opening band too," Seligman said.
