As the old saying goes, two heads are better than one – and ASUCD and the city of Davis have taken this sagely idiom to heart.
The two institutions are sharing their resources once again for Music on the Green, an annual concert featuring local and visiting bands in Central Park on C Street. This year’s concert will be held today at 6 p.m., and will include performances from rock-pop outfits The Definite Articles, Audrye Sessions and An Angle.
“It’s safe, exciting, affordable and non-alcohol based,” said city of Davis public relations manager Bob Bowen.
The concert is a result of the Entertainment Partnership established in 2006 when former ASUCD president Caliph Assagai and then senator Kareem Salem approached the city of Davis with an idea to organize a free, non-alcohol based entertainment event for underage students.
Now in its third year, the concert was organized by current ASUCD president Ivan Carrillo, who said that the importance of the partnership lies in its dedication to providing students with alternative entertainment options.
“I think it shows that you can have an outdoor concert with college students without things getting rowdy,” he said. “It sets a good example by having an alcohol-free event that doesn’t charge admission.“
In addition to this, however, the concert also has an effect on the local music scene.
Three band members from The Definite Articles can personally vouch for this. Vocalist and cellist Shawn Alpay, violist Melody Mundy and drummer Arjun Singh are all Davis alumni, and recalled a time when local shows were few and far between until a student organization called Davis Music Scene came to fruition.
“The music scene was pretty low-key,” Singh said. “Later, when I heard that there was a student organization that was working to put on more shows … I donated as much time and effort as I could to help.“
Unfortunately, as Alpay said, the Davis Music Scene dissipated; while venues such as Sophia’s Thai Kitchen, the Delta of Venus and the ASUCD Coffee House are available music venues, the problem of an all-ages venue still persists.
“A show like [Music on the Green] is an opportunity for people to see some good bands play, despite the availability of appropriate venues to accommodate them,” Alpay said.
Mundy shared the same sentiment, expressing her wish for more shows like Music on the Green.
“It’s a shame there aren’t very many places to play. I wish the Davis and Sacramento area had a good all-ages venue.“
The Definite Articles will be playing tonight with An Angle and Audrye Sessions to fill Central Park with danceable indie-pop tunes and the occasional melancholy, down-tempo track of heartbreak. Though Carrillo said that this line-up is smaller than previous years, longer sets from each band will compensate.
Apart from the Music on the Green, the Entertainment Partnership has also managed to sponsor back-to-school events last fall, and Carrillo mentioned that there are plans under way to turn Music on the Green into a quarterly event as opposed to an annual concert.
Music on the Green takes place today at 6 p.m. in Central Park on C Street between Third and Fifth streets. The event is free and open to the public.
JAYNE WILSON can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com.XXX
