PULLMAN, Wash. — The Associated Students of Washington State University’s Student Entertainment Board will present Springfest 2004 on April 24 at the Beasley Coliseum. The concert will feature rap legends Cypress Hill, punk innovators MXPX, Vendetta Red as well as the winners from Battle of the Bands. Doors will open at 4 p.m.
Tickets are currently on sale — $15 for WSU students by April 20, $20 for all other students with ID and $29.50 for the general public. Students must purchase their tickets at Beasley Coliseum or through Campus Involvement, located on the third floor of the Compton Union Building. Tickets are also available online and phone and through all TicketsWest locations. A very limited number of general admission tickets are available for floor seating—all other seating is reserved for the event.
Headliners Cypress Hill will launch their current tour in Pullman in support of their latest album, “Till Death Do Us Part.” Since the group’s formation in 1988, the pioneering rap-rock quartet Cypress Hill — founders B-Real (Louis Freese), DJ Muggs (Lawrence Muggerud) and Sen Dog (Senen Reyes), along with newest member Eric Bobo — has come a long way from the streets of South Central L.A. Cypress Hill has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide; garnered 15 multi-platinum, platinum and gold certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America; headlined Lollapalooza, Woodstock and the group’s own Smokin’ Grooves tour; and appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” among other shows, all while breaking down the barriers between hip-hop, alternative, metal, rock, reggae, ska and Latin music.
Cypress Hill’s impressive career is both summarized and advanced on “Till Death Do Us Part,” the group’s seventh studio album on Columbia Records (and tenth release overall). “Till Death Do Us Part” offers an intimation of dark mortality with moral tales propelled by the band’s patented slamming hip-hop beats, Sen Dog’s booming signature voice on choruses, and the group’s patented wide-screen narrative raps.
MXPX began in Bremerton, Washington. The trio has been together for more than ten years—eight as a nationally touring act. The trio refocuses its pop energy on its latest work, “Before Everything and After,” displaying a previously unheard of range of songs and depth of production. “We wanted to break some rules on this record,” declares frontman Mike Herrera.
Members of Seattle’s Vendetta Red began by making demos on their home computer and taking on the West Coast punk scene. Their hot topic-rockin’ major label debut, “Between the Never and the Now,” makes stadium blare sound intimate via quiet-loud punk-grunge dynamics and the vocals of Zach Davidson. The band is currently in Seattle working on its follow-up album to the highly successful debut. Spin magazine calls the single “Shatterday,” the “best teenage-doom anthem we’ve heard in ages.”
Both first and second place winners from the SEB’s Battle of the Bands competition will also play in the opening slots for Springfest. Local favorites 12th and Vine took the competition with their blues infused live act. Seattle’s Roundabout took second place in the competition and will play the first opening slot in Springfest.
