Rockin’ out the end of summer
Eleven years ago, headlining an international tour and releasing four studio albums may have seemed like a pipe dream to Bryce Avery. It’s unlikely back then he would have thought about rocking out with a few thousand college students on a street corner in Logan, Utah.
Of course, 11 years ago, Avary was just a 15-year-old kid trying to record music from his bedroom.
Avary’s solo-project The Rocket Summer will break a one-year silence to play on the corner of 700 North, near campus, Saturday, Sept. 3, at 7:30 p.m. Avary said Utah is one of his favorite places to play, which is why he accepted USU’s offer after turning down other venues.
“It’s going to be an exhilarating thing to do what I haven’t done in a year,” he said. “I want to feel the energy of the crowd. It’s inspiring to leave the studio.”
Senior Jane Sorenson, a graphic design major, has seen the The Rocket Summer in concert five times, since becoming a fan during her junior year of high school. She said the band is the perfect choice for a Week of Welcome closer.
“Other bands like Yellowcard or Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are trendy. Everyone knows them,” she said. “The Rocket Summer is something new and different. It’s refreshing that his music is not played on the radio all the time.”
Zach Larsen, ASUSU’s Programming vice president said he is sure The Rocket Summer performance will live up to the hype.
“Of all of the reasons Rocket Summer is great, they have interaction with the crowd. It’s phenomenal,” he said.
On his website, Avary sells T-shirts with the words “hopeful, melodic, epic, piano, guitar, rock.” He hopes these words will describe his performance. Avary is an accomplished player of piano, guitar, bass and drums. He writes, produces and plays the instrumentals for all of his albums, which is part of the reason he doesn’t like to stick one label or genre on himself. His new album will stock shelves early next year.
“I want to write music that inspires. Music is that friend that convinces you not to jump,” Avary said. “The new album is a step up from everything I’ve done in the past.”
Whitney Lundberg, a sophomore majoring in deaf education, said she’s amped to see The Rocket Summer live for the first time. While she knows of some students who are disappointed that ASUSU Programming didn’t choose a bigger name, similar to past years, she said it will open student’ minds to new music.
“He doesn’t have trashy lyrics,” she said. “He has good lyrics with meaning that you can still rock out to.”
The Rocket Summer was set to perform on USU’s campus a few years ago, but due to miscommunication the event fell through. Kellen Hansen, director of the Student Activities Board (STAB), said it was a long process to choose a band, but The Rocket Summer not only gave the council “the best bang for their buck” but the timing also worked out perfectly.
“We got a pretty good deal, pricewise, and they weren’t busy or touring too much,” he said. “We spent less than we did on Red Jumpsuit, We the Kings or any of the big bands we’ve had.”
Hansen said that while the concert is a huge campus activity, it also has a role as a recruitment tool. He said STAB and Programming have gotten calls from people as far away as Nevada, who plan to come to the show.
“There are a couple schools that are notorious for their religious beliefs, or that are commuter schools, like Weber State or Utah, that don’t necessarily program a lot for on-campus students,” he said. “In Logan, we’re in a unique situation where we get to do that. It does get tough budgetwise, but the more free or cheap events we do, the better we’re doing as a programming board.”
Avary said he has a couple of goals for the concert: Inspire students and rock out.
“I think you can find beauty and inspiration in everything. I want to brush away the bland,” he said. “I’m always learning”.
— allee.evensen@aggiemail.usu.edu