Electronic band Passion Pit will headline the annual A&O Ball at the Riviera Theatre on April 23. The alternative dance group will be the first of five shows A&O has planned for the spring.
“We’re looking forward to having a lot of people coming to have a dance party,” said Barry McCardel, co-director of promotions and public relations. “It’s going to be a kickoff for a really big spring.”
General admission tickets will be available for sale online on Friday, April 9, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Tickets will be $10 for undergraduates with a limit of four tickets per Wildcard. Remaining members of the Northwestern community will be able to purchase remaining tickets at an increased price of $15 a week later April 16. Transportation is provided with the cost of admission.
McCardel said A&O is excited to have the show at a professional venue. Hip hop artist Ludacris headlined the 2009 A&O Ball at Patten Gymnasium.
“During fall supplemental funding at the ASG Senate, we asked for the extra funds to move to the Riv,” McCardel said. “That’s going to allow more students to be there in a better atmosphere.”
Although A&O cannot disclose with certainty the final capacity of the show, they expect to fit over 2,000 people, McCardel said.
A&O is also excited to bring an electronic group to Northwestern after more traditional rockers Counting Crows two years ago and R&B star John Legend this past fall.
“It’s very different from John Legend,” said Carolyn Goldschmidt, director of concerts. “He’s a little more mainstream, so now we’re trying to kick it up a notch.”
This is not, however, the first time A&O has brought an electronic artist to campus. Mashup artist Girl Talk performed at Northwestern in winter 2008, and RJD2 and The Hood Internet played for the One Voice campaign in spring 2009.
The opening act for the night is an unidentified hip hop artist, according to McCardel. The different genres were chosen intentionally to bring students together.
“We don’t think it’s too polarizing that people won’t go to the concert,” Goldschmidt said, “but it’s different enough that we will hit a lot of the Northwestern population.”
Passion Pit might not be a name as readily recognizable to students compared to the Counting Crows or Ludacris, but hopefully “the music itself, the fact it’s $10 and the fact that it’s at the Riviera will make people want to come down and have a good time,” McCardel said.
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