Free music springs up

Spring has sprung!

And the warm weather is bringing so many students out of hibernation, it seems like the sun's rays are able to fabricate people, complete with Frisbee and bicycle, out of mid-air.

For students who have been grumbling all winter about a lack of things to do, spring also has brought with it a multitude of concerts and events.

Many of the upcoming events are sponsored by the University and are free. One such event is this weekend's Northstock '98, sponsored by the North Halls Association of Students.

Northstock has been going on for several years and mixes live musical entertainment with activities such as volleyball and tie-dying.

This year's live entertainment includes Windigo, Cool Water Fusion, Holy Mary, Mother of Bert, Fillement, Marner and Afri-Carib.

Another event this weekend includes the arrival of Steve Miller Band's 1998 Space Cowboy Tour to The Bryce Jordan Center.

Steve Miller Band will be playing at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the center. Tickets are still available for the show, and are $17.75 and $22, said Bernie Punt, marketing representative for the center.

"His family was always into music," Punt said. "He was influenced at early age by (guitar great) Les Paul who came to his house and played with Steve's father."

Mary J. Blige and Usher with special guest NEXT will also be appearing this weekend at 7 p.m. on Sunday at the center.

"I'm more than excited to get an R&B and hip-hop act to this non-urban market," Punt said. "We hope to bounce things off of this (experience) and get more acts like them in the future."

Tickets for the show are $35.75 and are still available.

Finally, for people interested in the more unique events that tend to show up at the University, there is the Hampton String Quartet.

The self-proclaimed "bad boys of chamber music" will be bringing its renditions of Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix tunes at 8 p.m. tomorrow to Eisenhower Auditorium.

"They are a string quartet like you've never seen before," said Matt Miller, writer for the Center for the Performing Arts. "They play their own versions of classic rock, and they have the image to go along with it. The music sounds great -- it was made for it."

With spring in full swing, the events of the coming weekend hope to excite and spark students out of hibernation for the next few months.