Hip-hop group The Roots and indie rockers The Flaming Lips will headline the two Spring Weekend concerts this year, the Brown Concert Agency will announce today.
The Roots are scheduled to open the weekend on Thursday, Apr. 19, and the Flaming Lips are slated to perform on Saturday, Apr. 21. Several opening groups have also been signed, including Soulive, Yo La Tengo and Stardeath and White Dwarfs.
"We were really interested in bringing in groups that students wanted," said BCA co-chair Joe Posner '07, adding that both The Roots and the Flaming Lips ranked high in student polls conducted by the agency. Posner credited BCA's new agent, Jack Reich, for the agency's ability to sign this year's big-name headliners.
Praised for their genre-bending sound, The Roots have earned critical acclaim since bursting onto the hip-hop scene in the mid-1990s. The Philadelphia-based group is notorious for their politically charged lyrics and high-energy live performances. Their ninth album "Game Theory" received glowing reviews after its release last year and was nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy award.
The Roots previously played at Spring Weekend in 2002.
Balancing the line-up is the Flaming Lips, an experimental rock group. Characterized by their psychedelic style, the group has been performing together since 1983, when they played their first gig at an Oklahoma City transvestite club. Two decades and 12 albums later, the Flaming Lips have become one of the most celebrated names in indie rock.
Students may remember the Flaming Lips best for their 2002 album "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots," which included the hit song "Do You Realize?" Their latest album, titled "At War With the Mystics," garnered two Grammy wins last Sunday, including one for best rock instrumental performance.
According to Posner, the Lips' Spring Weekend concert will be their only show in the Northeast in 2007.
The Brown Concert Agency has also secured several other bands to open for Spring Weekend's main acts. Soulive, a funk-infused band that has opened for such acts as Dave Matthews Band, The Rolling Stones and Common will be opening for the Roots at the Thursday concert.
Veteran indie rockers Yo La Tengo will take the stage at the Saturday concert, returning to Brown after their 1998 Spring Weekend performance. The band found popular success with their 11th album - last year's "I Am Not Afraid of You and Will Beat Your Ass" - which the Brown Concert Agency called in a press release "a sundry blend of styles, traveling from their trademark fiercely-shredded guitar epics to Memphis soul, chamber pop, and back."
Stardeath and White Dwarfs, another Oklahoma band, will also open for the Flaming Lips at the Saturday concert.
According to the BCA's press release, concert tickets will go on sale Feb. 22 in Faunce House. They will be available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be sold exclusively to Brown students for the first week. Individual show prices for Brown and RISD students will be $12 for Thursday and $15 for Saturday. In order to entice students to buy their tickets early, the agency plans to offer a two-show deal during the first week of sales.
