Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Dillo Day Performers Named

By Nitesh SrivastavaThe Daily Northwestern

Pete Francis, formerly of the indie band Dispatch, and Motion City Soundtrack, a Minnesota-based pop rock group, will join Cake and Lupe Fiasco on the Lakefill this year for Dillo Day, Mayfest organizers told The Daily on Thursday.

The schedule has not been finalized, but Francis and Motion City Soundtrack will perform sometime between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on May 26, representatives said. They will join rapper Lupe Fiasco and alternative band Cake, which are scheduled to perform at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.

Mayfest is still searching for acts to fill the remaining time slots at the Dillo Day concert. Mayfest has enough money to bring one act to co-headline the concert with Cake, or it could divide the money into bringing two smaller acts. organizers said.

If Mayfest does the latter, Lupe Fiasco would be the biggest “support” act for Cake, organizers said.

Organizers said they may be working on the concert lineup until Dillo Day itself. Whereas the university has already signed off on contracts for Cake and Lupe Fiasco, Mayfest only began working on contracts with Francis and Motion City Soundtrack this week and final arrangements are not yet complete.

Announcing performers without finalized contracts is unorthodox, but “for all practical purposes, all have been confirmed,” said Medill senior Liz Korutz, Mayfest’s concert director and a former daily staffer.

Francis, whose full name is Pete Francis Heimbold, will have “mainstream appeal” at Northwestern because of his connections to Dispatch, Korutz said. Francis released his first solo album, “Untold,” while still a member of Dispatch in 2003, and in 2006 he released the album “Everything Is One.”

“I’ve heard he actually has a really good live set,” Korutz said. “He turned down another offer (elsewhere) to play here.”

Meanwhile, Motion City Soundtrack’s acoustic performance will cater to the “rock-emo-alternative” crowd, Korutz said. She compared them to emo band Mae at last year’s Dillo Day, but, she added, Motion City Soundtrack is “more popular.”

Mayfest organizers said they’re happy with this year’s Dillo Day lineup so far.

“They are names that are recognizable,” said Medill sophomore Andrea Hart, Mayfest co-chairwoman and a former play staffer. “At the same time, we tapped into a wide variety of musical genres.”

Korutz said Mayfest focused on attracting acts that were not “representing an older generation,” referencing bands such as 2004 headliners, The Wailers.

Mayfest also hopes to spread performances throughout the day, partly because of success last year, when Ben Folds drew a large portion of the NU population with his early afternoon act.

“During the Ben Folds set, all the (Community Assistants) said they could sit down and breathe,” Korutz said, adding that NU administrators told them that keeping students on the Lakefill during the afternoon led to less trouble elsewhere.

However, because of performers’ scheduling demands, spreading performances throughout the day may not be possible.

“It’s not always about what we want,” said Communication junior Hillary Robbie, Mayfest co-chairwoman. “It’s about what’s feasible.”

In choosing performers, Mayfest representatives said they use tools such as Facebook to gauge an act’s popularity on campus.

Although Pete Francis is listed on only three NU students’ Facebook accounts, Dispatch is listed about 450 times. Cake appears on about 336 NU Facebook profiles, while Motion City Soundtrack is listed about 130 times and about 100 students name Lupe Fiasco.

Michael Garson, a Weinberg freshman, said he began listening to Motion City Soundtrack a few months ago.

“A lot of my friends are into it,” Garson said. “I’m actually more interested in seeing their concert (than in listening to their albums).”

As for Francis, Garson said the opposite was true, but he would still like to see the former Dispatch member perform live.

“I don’t know if he’s doing Dispatch songs or if he’s doing his own thing, but I’m definitely interested,” he said.

Reach Nitesh Srivastava at [email protected].

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Dillo Day Performers Named