This Friday’s Block Party will be one of many firsts.

The annual concert will be the first to feature an electronic dance music artist as a headliner. It will be the first to feature an innovative seating format for a University Union sponsored concert in the Carrier Dome. It will also be the first to feature a more advanced lighting system than that of past concerts.

For freshman Bailey Pfohl, it will be her first Block Party ever.

‘Everyone told me I absolutely had to go see Block Party,’ said Pfohl, an art history major.

DJ Kaskade, opening rockers Cold War Kids and indie-pop band Phantogram will take the stage at Block Party on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available for Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students with valid student IDs at the Schine Box Office for $16.

UU aimed to make the concert more of an electronic concert experience, said Ken Consor, director of University Union Concerts and junior in the Bandier Program for Music and the Entertainment Industries. The organization rigged a lights show for Kaskade’s set and will have more standing room available in the Dome.

‘We’ve been working all year to make changes on the production,’ he said. ‘This is a good one.’

Initial reactions to the announcement of the concert’s lineup were mixed. Disappointed students started a Twitter hashtag, #ThingsIdRatherDoThanGoToBlockParty, and UU hosted an open forum for students to voice complaints.

Pfohl bought her ticket for the show blindly, but after researching the artists scheduled to perform, she decided this was an overdramatic response.

‘I think the reaction was just a bunch of overdemanding students being ungrateful,’ she said. ‘I really like Cold War Kids now. People are just rude.’

But despite buying tickets for the concert, students like freshman Sarah Bogden still aren’t thrilled by the performers.

‘My friends back home are Kaskade fans, so that’s why I heard of him,’ said Bogden, who is undecided in the College of Arts and Sciences. ‘I was disappointed, though, since I thought a bigger name would come.’

Consor said that UU booked three diverse acts to reach different student audiences. Cold War Kids bring an indie-rock aspect that recent UU concerts have lacked, and Phantogram is an up-and-coming indie-pop group.

‘Cold War Kids are known for putting on great live performances,’ Consor said. ‘And we’re excited to expose Phantogram to concertgoers.’

After his performance in Syracuse, Kaskade will launch his ‘Freaks of Nature’ electronic music tour. His last album, ‘Fire and Ice,’ peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard charts. The DJ will headline two basketball arenas in the span of a few months. After playing at the Dome, he will be the first EDM artist to headline the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

‘He’s playing the same place that hosts the Grammys,’ Consor said. ‘Students who like to dance and hear live electronic music can see him at a low price.’

ervanrhe@syr.edu

Published on April 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Erik: ervanrhe@syr.edu | @therealvandyman