Quadstock minus Quad: Who and what to see on the Union Green

Before the Quad opens its gates for this year's main stage acts, the event will kick off at noon on the Union Green with four hours of organization-sponsored activities.

According to Adam Toth, senior creative writing major and Quadstock chair, the Green will host exhibitions that have recently become Quadstock traditions. Housing and Residence Life are sponsoring a henna tattooing tent (featuring two artists, as opposed to last year's one). ROTC will be resurrecting the beloved inflatable obstacle course. Campus Ministry is bringing back the dunking tank—a way for students to exact justice on Seattle University celebrities like Tim Albert and their favorite Resident Assistants.

In response to its success last year, the Physics Club will be recreating their ublec—a cornstarch and water combination that is liquid when lightly pressed on but solid when a heavy force (such as running feet) is applied. Snap, the Seattle U photo club, has constructed a photo booth to document this year's festivities. And of course, the Green will host a stage primarily for student musicians, profiled here. This year the stage is sponsored by KSUB, who will also be handing out sunglasses at the event.

In addition to these annual must-haves, Friends of Africa and Natural Leaders members will be in attendance on the Green hosting as-yet-unspecified activities, and RedZone will be hanging out with Otter Pops and hats for sunbathed students who come asking. Snacks and fruit will also be available all day on the green.

The Green will provide students with a place to enjoy the sun until 4:30 p.m. when the Quad opens up for ticketholders, but Toth assures that students who choose to forgo the green will still be allowed into the main stage area.

This year's main stage will host two rounds of food service in order to try and better accommodate late-comers who still want free grub. The first round of food will be served shortly after the gates open, with a second batch coming at around 6:30 p.m. This year's food options are sponsored by ASSU, and students will get to choose from the following refreshments: Ezell's Famous Chicken, Pita Pit, Dick's, Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches and Mighty-O Donuts.

Conduct has always been an issue at Quadstock, but Toth encourages students to "just be smart" about their actions and to have a good time. He also advises that students buy their tickets as soon as possible.

"I'm not sure if it's going to sell out," Toth said. "But it should sell very comparably to last year."

But one thing's for sure: Quadstock XXI is going to be a ton of fun.

Here is a look at the student bands playing this year's Green event.

Ideal Green

Drew Pettersson of Ideal Green believes reggae brings people together.

"Reggae is a genre where even if you think you don't think you like it, when you hear it you kind of like it," says Pettersson, senior history major at University of Washington.

Pettersson (drums) began playing music with Seattle University student Brian Olmstead (bass), senior civil engineering major, at the age of 16 in a previous band before starting Ideal Green in 2005.

The band, which has six other members now, has a growing fan base in the Seattle area and have taken on many shows at venues around town, most recently playing at Tractor Tavern.

Ideal Green recently wrapped up recording a full-length album to be released this summer. About half of the tracks recorded were written before they acquired their female vocalist, Ashley Tahauri, music student at Seattle Central Community College.

The band take their music seriously and hope to make a career out of it.

"Who wouldn't want to play reggae for a living?" Pettersson says.

As a student at UW, Pettersson is looking forward to his first Quadstock experience.

"As long as it's sunny and people are drinking, I hope we can get them to dance," Pettersson says.

Sketch Echo

When Sketch Echo performed at SEAC's Battle of the Bands a few months ago, they were the only electronic act, flanked by two dancers and a truckload of cat calls for their alluring and, according to vocalist Clinton Carl, "highly sexualized" pop sound.

"We started out really science fiction-y, kind of dark," says Carl, sophomore philosophy major.

Sketch Echo performs songs alluding to intricate fantasies, and the dancers' sharp moves accompany the music.

Carl and Sheena McCray (keyboard and beats) have completed recording Sketch Echo's self-titled debut album, which will be on sale at Quadstock and on iTunes this month.

The band has performed several shows since its debut at Battle of the Bands—including Youthopolis and Rave for Romero—each show marking an evolution in their stage presence. But Sketch Echo is definitely looking forward to taking on the Union Green stage, the group's biggest performance to date in terms

of space.

"Quadstock is going to give us an opportunity to give people a full performance experience," says Erika Bailey (dancer), freshman international studies and French major.

The smaller venues of past performances have been limiting to the movement of Sketch Echo's dancers and audience. But with this much space on the Union Green, the audience shouldn't be shy to dance along with Sketch Echo this Saturday.

Four or Five People

Four or Five People is Jenna Emerson and three or four other people; sometimes Emerson, junior sociology major, is all four or five people.

"It's a collective," Emerson says, "I have many collaborators."

Four or Five People was inspired after Emerson studied in Florence, Italy this past fall quarter. She played under the name Postcards from Italy with a student from Nashville and another from Turkey.