On Sunday afternoon — if forecasts hold true — the sun will hit Nyumburu Amphitheater just right. Music will echo across Campus Drive and might even be heard from McKeldin Mall. It will be time for Terpstock.
This year marks the fifth anniversary of Student Entertainment Events’ inaugural spring festival. The event initially was created to bring lesser-known artists and local bands to this university — unlike the spring Art Attack concert, which aims to cater to most of the university community.
“It’s a musical arts festival,” said Shadia Weeks, SEE public relations director. “It’s not concerts. It’s not meant to appeal to the masses and get most of the campus’s attention. It’s kind of a chance for us to showcase diverse and different talent: up-and-coming artists.”
In true music festival form, Terpstock runs several hours with several headliners and performers. This year, it features Ace Enders, Kinetics & One Love and A Great Big Pile of Leaves. The bands are joined by local artists Teen Suicide and Joe Martin Trio.
Terpstock’s original purpose was to be the spring concert run by the musical arts director — the same person who runs the annual Back to School concert in the fall, said Angela Wong, a 2013 alumna who worked as SEE’s advertising director from January 2010 to May 2011.
“I think we also really wanted to have multiple artists perform, so having Terpstock as a day-into-night event with so many artists was a great idea,” Wong wrote in a Facebook message.
The programming at Terpstock differs depending on the director who’s planning it, Weeks said. It’s difficult to determine the attendance over the years because the event had to be held indoors in 2011 and 2012 as a result of bad weather, she added.
Headliners at Terpstock vary in genre from year to year. Shwayze headlined in 2013. Talib Kweli and Mac Lethal made up the main act in 2012. Performances in 2011 included the Cataracs, Hoodie Allen and Das Racist. We Are Scientists, Big D and the Kids Table, Red Umbrella, The Alchemystics and Andrew Grossman performed in 2010.
Wong designed the original Terpstock poster, which paid homage to the Woodstock musical festival in 1969, for the 2010 event. Terpstock took inspiration from Woodstock to construct a relaxing and fun event, she wrote.
“We wanted Terpstock, especially in its first year, to be relatable to Woodstock,” she wrote.
The musical arts director suggests genres and artists to the other directors on SEE’s board, Wong wrote.
This year’s Terpstock features a variety of acts, from hip-hop to alternative to pop sounds. Kinetics & One Love, a co-headliner for the show, is known for the writing the chorus to B.o.B’s “Airplanes” and collaborating with artists such as Eminem and Pitbull. The hip-hop duo also has opened for Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC.
A Great Big Pile of Leaves features a poppier sound and hails from Brooklyn. The band has recorded several EPs and two albums, Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex? in 2010 and You’re Always On My Mind, released in 2013.
Ace Enders, known as the lead singer of alternative band The Early November, has worked on several solo projects, including his band I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business. He’s played on Warped Tours and a tour featuring The All-American Rejects. The Early November, after separating, re-formed and released an album in 2012, In Currents.
Junior psychology major Casey Whitman said he is especially excited for Ace Enders’ performance.
“I’m curious to see who comes out and who this will appeal to in school,” he said.
He’s hoping to meet new people interested in the bands he likes.
“Music is also a bonding experience between people,” he said.
Weeks said the weather is expected to be 70 degrees and sunny.
SEE’s staff is looking forward to the event, Weeks said, and hopes the forecast will hold up.
“It’s fun, it’s different,” Weeks said. “It’s a way for us to stretch our wings and do something that we don’t usually get to do.”