One thing that probably hasn’t been on most people’s minds recently is the end-of-the-year concert that the Rensselaer Union has planned. In fact, a good number of people that I have spoken to weren’t even aware that one existed. To refresh everyone’s memory, on May 3—that’s the Saturday after classes get out—the Honda Civic Tour will be making a stop at our very own Houston Field House.
The Honda Civic Tour is an annual concert series that is sponsored by the Honda Motor Company, and this year it will be headlined by Panic at the Disco. The Honda Civic Tour has been around since 2001 and, as an RPI student, I am very excited to be part of this. Each year the tour gives away a customized Honda Civic to one lucky patron. The prize car has been designed by the headlining band, and can be seen on the tour’s posters, which should be appearing more frequently around campus by the time you read this article. As an added bonus, a portion of the ticket sales this year will used to make a contribution to an environmental cause; according to the tour’s website, “being green doesn’t get any easier than buying a ticket to the ’08 Honda Civic Tour.”
I hope that everyone is as excited as me for the bands that are coming. Panic at the Disco was recently showcased last weekend on “Saturday Night Live,” where they performed as the week’s musical guest. They were also featured in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated. Accompanying Panic at the Disco will be special guests Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound, and Phantom Planet. If you are not very familiar with all of these bands, as I once wasn’t, their albums are all available on Ruckus for your legal downloading enjoyment. As a person that can enjoy most music, I enjoyed listening to the few albums that I had a chance to, and look forward to the concert.
Tickets for the concert are $15 and available at either the Union Administration Office or the Field House box office. In addition there will be ticket sales in the 15th Street lobby of the Union during the lunch rush on select days, and also at events around campus. Students should have no trouble finding a place to purchase tickets. Also, the cost of a ticket on TicketMaster is $30, plus the additional fees; therefore one would pay around $40 for a ticket they can buy for $15 on campus. If that’s not enough reason to run out and buy a ticket right away, RPI has the only available general admission tickets, meaning that the people that purchase pre-sale tickets will be guaranteed to get closest to the stage.
Finally, in my last words of wisdom on the concert, I see this as a great way to get out and interact with the rest of the RPI community. Even if you’re not the biggest fan of all the bands playing, concerts are an amazing experience, and this is a chance to see one very cheaply, in the same arena where we enjoy many other RPI events. This concert is a great excuse to get out of your dorm room and celebrate the end of classes. As always, if you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to contact me at pu@rpi.edu.
