By now, the biggest question surrounding today’s Volapalooza concert, featuring 1990s post-grunge band CAKE, is whether or not Fiji Island can support the group’s East Tennessee fan base. According to Campus Entertainment Board advisor Lynanne Hodges, Fiji Island can currently hold almost 10,000 people, but the CEB is predicting that at least 6,000 people will attend Volapalooza this year.
Because Volapalooza is a free concert for students and non-students, attendance has skyrocketed since its inception four years ago. The first Volapalooza, initiated by the CEB as a fun way for students to wrap up the school year, attracted about 800 people to Circle Park with a few local bands, Jenny Cavanaugh said, CEB chair.
The next year, the concert, having outgrown Circle Park, was moved to Fiji Island, and it has been Volapalooza’s stomping ground ever since. Ingram Hill and Robert Randolph attracted about 3,000 attendees in 2005, and last year, approximately 5,000 people heard Ben Folds.
This year’s concert will also be held at Fiji Island, although Hodges said this year may be the Island’s last.
“This is possibly the last year we see this as an outdoor event,” Hodges said. “So what we’re considering for the future is making Volapalooza, the concert itself, an indoor concert maybe within Thompson Boling. The CEB has a very limited budget…so having a sponsor like that…would really help keep it going.”
If the concert were moved to a venue like Thompson-Boling Arena, a small cover charge might be required; nevertheless, Hodges assures music fans that the point of the concert is to “provide alternative, cheap entertainment” with a very small cover charge, if any.
For today, however, CAKE needs to pack Fiji island — a piece of cake for a widely successful, iconic band. Since 1991, CAKE has gone the distance, mixing several different genres in a terse, grooving style. After five albums, many of which have been featured in films and on television, and hundreds of concert dates, including a slot at the 2005 Lollapalooza, lead singer John McCrea’s voice still is just as monotonously powerful as in the group’s debut album, “Motorcade of Generosity.”
Yet, even with the band’s popularity, many fans who haven’t experienced CAKE’s live show are concerned that the music doesn’t lend itself well to interacting with the audience. The members of the CEB disagree.
“CAKE is a great live band, and we also wanted a band who would be different from past Volapaloozas. CAKE is one of the most unique and entertaining bands out there, and they have a large, very dedicated fan base. We felt like they were a great choice to play at UT,” Cavanaugh said.
In fact, Hodges said CAKE’s live show was one of the main reasons the CEB invited the group.
“I think that CAKE will add to our growing list of successful shows. I think that CAKE has a unique sound that will bring people out; plus, who is going to turn down a free concert on a Friday night?” Rachel Sims said, Volapalooza chair.
Opening for CAKE is local band Plan A, lead by Matt Woods. Many local bands auditioned for the gig, but Plan A was picked out of four other bands whose demos were sent to CAKE itself to be the opener.
“CEB wanted to give a local band the opportunity to play for such a large crowd this year. We recognize that Knoxville has an incredible music scene and felt that giving a local band this opportunity would be a great way to add a different element to Volapalooza,” Cavanaugh said.
CAKE also has another opener that regularly tours with the band, called The Old Ceremony; thus, Volapalooza will host three bands this year. And, in fact, this music festival environment is exactly how Sims sees the annual concert developing.
“The ultimate goal is to get Volapalooza to be an all-day festival with more than one band,” Sims said.
But, for now, a three-band concert with CAKE headlining will suffice.
The gates for Volapalooza will open at 6:30 p.m., and the first band is set to begin at 8 p.m. Everyone, both students and non-students, is welcome to Volapalooza, provided that he or she have a UT I.D., picture I.D. or a parent for younger children. Alcohol is not permitted.
