Music will soon be in the air again as the Social Planning and Events Committee hosts its third concert of the year next month.
Indie artists Deer Tick and Fun. will perform at this year’s fall show on Oct. 14. The concert, open to students and community members, will take place at Harrison Auditorium in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which can seat up to 730 people.
The fall show is an annual event organized by SPEC to “introduce people [to] bands that aren’t so often heard on the radio,” College junior and SPEC Concerts Co-Director Sam Gorski said.
Last year, the Local Natives, an indie rock band, headlined at the Rotunda.
SPEC picked the bands “to give [its fall concert] a juxtaposition to Spring Fling,” Gorski said, referring to concerts held annually as part of the University’s three-day social event. Many hip-hop artists have performed at Spring Fling in the past few years, including Lupe Fiasco, Snoop Dogg and Akon.
Gorski said the three SPEC Concert co-directors came together to organize the fall show before summer began.
Fun. has just released a new single entitled “We are Young” and Deer Tick’s new album Divine Providence will come out on Oct. 25th.
Wharton junior and SPEC Concerts Co-Director Julia Sternfeld said Deer Tick has a more “folky sound” while Fun. is “a little more pop.”
Fun.’s lead singer Nate Ruess used to be in another American indie band called The Format, which broke up after he left.
This year, SPEC will sell tickets online for the first time. This year’s venue can seat double the number of attendees as last year’s.
“[The large venue] is kind of a new experiment and we’re looking forward to it,” SPEC President and College senior Shana Rusonis said.
SPEC Concerts Co-Director Chase Baxter added that the organizers “wanted to reach out to the larger Philly community rather than just students.”
“We thought that the atmosphere of the concert would be a lot better with 500 to 580 people than just 300,” he added.
Although College freshman Skylar Butler has not heard of either Deer Tick or Fun. before, she still expressed interest in attending. “It’s a cool new way to get introduced to bands. I like seeing [artists] live for the first time,” Butler said.
Wharton junior Jayden Kim had not heard of the bands either, but does not intend to go because he is busy with On-Campus Recruiting. He would have gone if “somebody famous came,” he added.
