Frankie McQueen, Bedouin Soundclash at U Fest
Vanessa Gillard
Arts Editor
The first year of our alma mater’s inception went well all things considered.
It kicked off last September with the appropriately named U Fest, which featured the oddly paired Canadian hip-hop darling k-os and childrens’ entertainment legend Fred Penner. This second year’s events will feature another Canadian lineup at the TransCanada Amphitheatre as well as somewhat embarrassing and outrageous activities.
Frankie McQueen, pictured, are known for their live shows. Photo courtesy of Frankie McQueen
This year’s headliners are the much-celebrated Toronto trio Bedouin Soundclash and local talents Frankie McQueen and boy/girl.
There will be beer gardens and shmorg of food to choose from, as well as various ways to compete against fellow students for a smattering of prizes and of course the glory of reigning supreme.
A pie-throwing event will feature targets such as professors and student-body elected representatives. Bring your beefs to this fun-for-spite stand.
A frozen T-shirt event will see students compete to see who can get frozen T-shirts unstuck, over their heads, and arms through the quickest. If you don’t already have enough photos of you and your contemporaries half-cut and full-rad, there will be a photo booth to record all the ensuing rowdiness.
This year’s festivities also include a bungee run, which is a giant blowup double track with a bungee attached to each competitor, testing students’ ability to run further than their opponent while attached to the over-sized elastic band.
No doubt there will also be drinking contests happening intermittently throughout the day in the beer gardens.
U Fest is poised to be a great time for MRU students and those performing alike. Scotty Charles, vocalist and guitar player for Frankie McQueen, says he’s excited for a number of reasons, but foremost is playing with the headliners.
“Personally, having the opportunity to open up for Bedouin Soundclash is going to be an amazing experience,” says Charles. “I’ve been a fan of those guys for so long.
“They never disappoint and I’m thrilled to say Frankie McQueen has been given this chance to open for them.
“I feel like we are both very high energy, very honest bands. Bedouin Soundclash puts on an amazing show and our job is to get people revved up and excited to see them,” he added. “We’ll make them proud.”
Frankie McQueen have been together since 2007 and have a reputation for putting on a good live show, says Charles. This was apparent when the band won $200,000 in the Fuel Rockstar battle-of-the-bands contest in the summer of 2009. There’s nothing like playing live, he says:
“Playing live is instant gratification for us as well as an instant response from our fans. To have people react so quickly to our music, good or bad, is an amazing rush. You can’t get that anywhere else. In terms of a song, that’s where we really start to realize if we are on to something or if we need to trash it. We feel at home on stage and that exchange of energy between us and the people in the crowd is why we play music.”
U Fest will take place on Sept. 15. Tickets are $10, and can be purchased at the MRU conservatory or at Copywrite Used Books in the basement of Wyckham House.
