Ufest poised to delight all involved

By Vanessa Gillard

The first year of our alma mater’s inception went well all things considered. It kicked off last September with the appropriately named Ufest, which featured the oddly paired Canadian hip hop darling Kaos and childrens’ entertainment legend Fred Penner. This second year’s events will feature another Canadian lineup at the TransCanada Amphitheatre as well as somewhat embarrassing and outrageous activities.

Bedouin Soundclash are gonna charm the pants off of MRU. Photo courtesy Google Images.

The headliners playing this year are the much-celebrated Toronto trio Bedouin Soundclash, and a couple of local talents Frankie McQueen and boy/girl. There will be beer gardens and shmorg of food to choose from, and various ways to compete with fellow students for a smattering of prizes and of course the glory of reigning supreme.

A pie-throwing event will feature such targets as your professors and some of your student body elected representatives. So bring your beefs to this fun-for-spite stand. A frozen T-shirt event will see students compete to see who can get frozen T-shirts unstuck, over their heads, and arms through the quickest. If you don’t already have enough photos of you and your contemporaries half-cut and full-rad there will be a photo booth to record all the ensuing rowdiness. A bungee run, which is a giant blowup double track with a bungee that attaches to each competitor, will test your ability to get the further than your opponent while attached to the over sized elastic band. No doubt there will also be drinking contests happening intermittently through out the day in the beer gardens.

Ufest is poised to be a great time for MRU students and those performing alike. Scotty Charles, vocalist and guitar player for Frankie McQueen, says he is excited for a number of reasons but foremost is playing with the headliners.

“Personally, having the opportunity to open up for Bedouin Soundclash is going to be an amazing experience. I’ve been a fan of those guys for so long and I’ve seen them about three times. They never disappoint and I’m thrilled to say Frankie McQueen has been given this chance to open for them.

“I feel like we are both very high energy, very honest bands. Bedouin Soundclash puts on an amazing show and our job is to get people revved up and excited to see them. We’ll make them proud,” says Charles.

Frankie McQueen have been together since 2007 and they have a reputation for putting on a good live show according to Charles. This was apparent when the band won $200,000 in the Fuel Rockstar battle-of-the-bands contest in the summer of 2009. There’s nothing else like it says Charles.

“Playing live is instant gratification for us as well as an instant response from our fans. To have people react so quickly to our music, good or bad, is an amazing rush. You can’t get that anywhere else. In terms of a song, that’s where we really start to realize if we are on to something or if we need to trash it. We feel at home on stage and that exchange of energy between us and the people in the crowd is why we play music.”

Ufest will take place on September 15, and tickets are $10, and can be purchased at the MRU conservatory or at Copywrite Used Books in the basement of Wyckham House.