Homecoming’s kickoff started on Harris Field Sunday and will end there with the annual PackHowl concert.
Augustana, whose song, “Boston,” reached number 10 on Billboard’s “Adult Pop Songs” chart, will headline the event. Ladies in Red, Fusion Dance Crew and Eddy B and Tim Gunter, a rap duo, will also perform.
The free concert will take place on Harris Field Friday from 7 to 11 p.m.
Anna Poole, a junior in fashion and textile management, was very excited when she found out Augustana was going to be performing at this year’s PackHowl.
“I’ve been wanting to see them live so it is really convenient they are going to be right here on campus,” Poole said.
Jeramy Blackford, director of student programs for the N.C. State Alumni Association, is in charge of booking the band for Homecoming. He and the six executive homecoming chairs from the Alumni Association Student Ambassador Program created a list of bands they were interested in before event planning started.
Natalie Hawley, this year’s PackHowl chair, said the list of bands was “all over the place” but they wanted to pick something they knew would work well for the concert.
”We wanted it to be kind of intimate and something soft since we had a rap duo already. We thought it would be cool to mix it up,” Hawley said.
AASAP had a $47,000 budget, all from donations, to spend on the Homecoming events. Blackford said unfortunately some of the ideas for bands were too expensive and they thought about bringing in bigger local bands.
“[PackHowl] is compared to UAB’s Friday Fest and now the Ludacris concert so we needed to bring in big acts,” Blackford said.
Members of the Homecoming committee said they felt they needed a bigger name and they jumped at the chance to book Augustana for $13,500.
Brittnee Rambo, who is on the Homecoming committee for AASAP, said initially they weren’t aware Augustana was available.
“We had a lot of little bits of heartbreak and we really got lucky with this deal. We didn’t know they were available until a month ago. We saw the opportunity and we went ahead and jumped on it,” Rambo said.
According to Rambo, AASAP is excited to have Student Government co-sponsor the event.
“They are always a very strong supporter as far as donations go. They just passed a bill to give us additional funding. We are really lucky they can be a co-sponsor of this event,” said Rambo.
Ally Tucker, a sophomore in biomedical engineering, is a fan of Augustana and excited to see them perform for PackHowl.
“I think Augustana was a great choice for the concert. Even if you have not listened to them before it is going to be a concert you can just come out and enjoy. The music is great and I think it will provide a great atmosphere to get people ready for the game on Saturday,” Tucker said.
The committee feels that Augustana was the best choice for the concert and for such a diverse campus with so many musical interests.
“I think Augustana is going to be perfect for the atmosphere,” Rambo said. “The response has been very positive so we are excited about that.”
Hal Nunn, a sophomore in computer science, said he’s excited about attending the concert and thinks it’s great to get students excited for the game.
“The Augustana concert will be the pinnacle event leading up to the big game against Wake Forest. A concert is the perfect way to energize the student body and get us pumped for our Homecoming,” Nunn said.
The Homecoming committee hopes everyone will attend the concert and have fun.
Hawley said she hopes people will be supportive and try to listen to Augustana if they have never heard them before.
“If you approach it with a negative mind and say ‘I don’t know [that band]’, you won’t get the most out of the experience,” said Hawley. “There is so much more to PackHowl. It is about Homecoming and the football game and the whole picture, not whether or not you like the band that is playing.”
“I think people get excited for free concerts on campus, so this is a great way to get people excited for Homecoming,” said Adam McCoy, a freshman in mechanical engineering.
