Concert changes venue to South Park

By Brandy Entsminger

Friday, October 3, 2008

Lawrence residents will have the opportunity to hear eight local bands at “Music for the Masses,” an annual outdoor concert, this Sunday.

Chris Armstrong, Lawrence junior, organized the show. He said he first started the concert as a high school student in 2005 because he wanted to give bands an opportunity to perform outside the restrictions of traditional venues.

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Photo by Tyler Waugh

Chris Armstrong, Lawrence junior, passes out fliers for "Music For The Masses" while dressed as a robot on Wescoe Beach on Wednesday. "Music For The Masses" is an all-day music festival held in South Park on Saturday. The concert is free.

“There’s a lot of politics in the music scene here,” Armstrong said.

Brian Baggett, guitar player for the band Dojo, said Lawrence had a wide range of venues, but that it was sometimes difficult to find one that fit his band’s unique style.

“If we were somewhere else in Kansas we’d have no gigs at all,” Baggett said. “It’s just too artsy.”

In the past, the concert was held at Burcham Park near Second and Indiana streets on the bank of the Kansas River. Armstrong said the location was perfect because it provided an open field for the audience and the river as a backdrop for the stage.

He moved the concert this year because he wanted it to be more accessible to drive-by traffic.

The event’s biggest crowd at Burcham Park was 240 people. Armstrong said his goal was 400 to 500 people this year.

Cody Henry, who provides lead guitar and vocals for ClusterFunk, said it would be nice to play at an outdoor venue because people could drop by easily.

“I think it’s just more liberating to be outside, in a park, playing,” Henry said.

Baggett said having the concert outside would also allow younger fans to see local talent that usually played in clubs.

Armstrong starts planning the shows five months in advance. He handles financing, promotion, booking, logistics and sound.

The cost of the concert includes buying a permit, renting a stage, sound equipment and advertising. This year the cost is about $1,000.

Most of the advertising for the concert is done through posters and fliers. To promote the concert on campus, Armstrong wore a robot costume and handed out fliers in front of Wescoe Hall.

Alex Folsom, Lawrence junior and guitar player for Capital D and the Rest of Me, said having the concert on a Sunday afternoon would encourage people to come out.

“Music for the Masses” is free to the public and will run from 12:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday on the west side of South Park near Vermont and 12th streets.

— — Edited by Arthur Hur

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