IF YOU GO

What: Bandersnatch presents The Academy Is . . .

When: Nov. 17, 8 p.m.

Where: Schine Underground

How much: $6 w/ SU ID and $12 for general admission

Bandersnatch has chosen its next band.

The Academy Is… will be headlining the next Bandersnatch Music Series concert on Nov. 17, in the Schine Underground. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. and music will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale today at the Schine Box Office, and tickets will be sold for $6 for students and $12 for the general public.

This will be the second show in the series presented by University Union this semester. Hip-hop artist, Mike Posner, headlined the first concert of the series on Oct. 28.

‘We haven’t heard any leaks or rumors about the show around campus,’ said Andrew Beyda, co-president of Bandersnatch. ‘I think it will be a surprise to a lot of people.’

Beyda said that when he was originally looking at booking The Academy Is… and the band was already scheduled be touring in the area. Bandersnatch had the opportunity to bring the well-established group to campus while remaining on budget.

‘Lately they’ve been able to fill venues 10 times our size … for ticket prices that are well above what we’re charging,’ Beyda said. ‘When I approached the agent for the band, they were actually excited about doing a smaller scale show for an audience of college students. It’s a unique thing for them.’

After forming in 2003, The Academy Is… has churned out pop punk anthems such as ‘The Phrase That Pays,’ ‘We’ve Got A Big Mess On Our Hands’ and ‘About A Girl.’ Lead singer William Beckett also made cameos on songs for Fall Out Boy and on Cobra Starship’s ‘Snakes On A Plane.’

Currently signed to Decaydance Records, The Academy Is… has released three full-length albums- its most recent, ‘Fast Times at Barrington High,’ was ranked among that year’s Top 50 albums by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008.

The pop-punk quintet spent past summers on the Vans Warped Tour and is currently touring as a co-headliner on the Alternative Press Tour Fall Ball. Nashville-based dance-pop group Hot Chelle Rae, and Syracuse’s own Fazeshift are slated to open.

‘The headliner sells itself,’ Beyda said. ‘But we wanted to get somebody local and Fazeshift has a strong local following. And Hot Chelle Rae definitely fits with the bands but is still a different sound.’

Emily Fasel, a sophomore in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said that she’s been a fan of The Academy Is… for years and is excited to see them again.

‘Every time, they’re better than the last time I saw them,’ Fasel said. ‘They give a great live performance. The Academy Is… is a band that has a lot of variance in the type of music they play.’

In addition to bringing up-and-coming artists to campus, Beyda said Bandersnatch also aims to provide students with music not offered with other concerts, like Juice Jam. Past Bandersnatch acts have come from a range of genres with artists such as Head Automatica, Wale and Matt Wertz.

‘I know a lot of people who have said that they’ve never seen The Academy Is… before and this is their first opportunity to actually see them and at a good price,’ Beyda said.

kmimamur@syr.edu

Published on October 31, 2009 at 12:00 pm