Gym Class Heroes ticke
Special student discount:
Today through Friday, $25/$35 with a student ID
Freeborn Box Office
Although Davis has its share of mid-sized and smaller concerts, larger acts usually travel across the Causeway to play in Sacramento at venues like the Arco Arena. This month, however, is an exception as a six-act show featuring Gym Class Heroes, Shwayze, LMFAO, Tyga, The Knux and HardNox will rock the UC Davis Pavilion on Feb. 26.
Tickets for the show go on sale today at tickets.com and at the Freeborn Box Office. As extra incentive to buy, student tickets purchased from Freeborn by Friday will be discounted from the regular price. The student special will make it $25 for upper level tickets and $35 for floor tickets. Regular student prices – $29 for upper level, $45 for floor – will return on Monday. General admission tickets are $37 for upper level and $52 for floor.
The concert is presented by 6 Trees, an entertainment company founded in August 2008 by recent UC Davis graduates Dallas Imbimbo and Jeff List that brings live music to college campuses. The ASUCD Entertainment Council is also sponsoring the show.
Imbimbo said that 6 Trees was created as a way to bring bigger acts to college students. Students vote for what band they would like to see play at their respective school online at the6trees.com. A winner is then declared each quarter and brought to play on campus.
“Our goal is do one concert per quarter on the campuses we work with. We just bring the artist that the students want,” Imbimbo said. “We put artists on our website that we can afford to bring – there’s no way to get Green Day or U2, but we find affordable artists in the middle area like Gym Class Heroes.“
Imbimbo said that a new website is set to launch in a few months and will give students between 300 and 500 acts to choose from. Imbimbo and List chose to bring Gym Class Heroes to UC Davis after hearing that an attempt by the EC to bring the band to Davis had been postponed. The two decided that they would bring the band and front the money for such a large undertaking.
EC assistant director Jasmine Lau said that they helped 6 Trees with bringing the event.
“We worked out some of the details with them and offered our support,” Lau said.
Imbimbo said he hopes the event is something students will remember.
“The biggest event I saw as an undergrad was when Dave Chappelle came to the Pavilion. We want to bring more events like that to college campuses and students,” Imbimbo said. “We want the Gym Class Heroes show to be a huge party. That’s why we’re bringing six acts.“
Even with a struggling music industry and the current economic climate, co-founder List is confident that live music is the ticket to success.
“There is money to be made in the concert business because you can never exactly duplicate the live show experience, no matter how hard you try,” List said. “Even DVDs can’t really capture it.”
List said that the show at the Pavilion will be professionally filmed and edited in order to be pitched for television use. The show would include live concert footage and interviews with students and the bands.
ZACK FREDERICK can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.
