Music Festivals Abound With Spring's Advent

Among campus organizations offering musical performances or festivals this weekend are the Carolina National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the Electronic Music Symposium and the Clef Hangers.

Combining musical entertainment and education, NORML will host its seventh annual Greenfest. The two-day camp out and music festival will begin at 4 p.m. Friday and last until early Sunday morning at the Chicken Shack, a camping ground near University Lake in Carrboro.

Fifteen bands and artists, including Gravity Project, Big Fat Gap and Larry Keel Experience, will perform throughout Greenfest.

Junior Johnny Buck, a member of Carolina NORML and the band coordinator for Greenfest, said the quality of the bands reflects the large budget and efficient organization of this year's event that will set it apart from past Greenfests.

He also said the annual Greenfest is crucial to bringing widespread attention to issues such as medical marijuana and the legalization of hemp cultivation, which are the focus of NORML's agenda.

"Greenfest is important to the community because it raises some very important issues that are facing our nation and political structure at this time," Buck said.

Tickets to Greenfest will be available at the festival; tickets are $10 for Friday only, $15 for Saturday only and $20 for the weekend.

Also mingling music with education this weekend, the Electronic Music Symposium will hold an electronic music festival titled "Synchronization: Exploring Culture through the Lens of Music" in collaboration with Duke University.

Kicking off the event will be an electronic music performance at 6 p.m. Friday at Duke. The Robertson Scholars bus, as well as chartered buses, will be available to transport students between the Duke and UNC campuses.

The festival will include lectures on topics like electronic music, independent record labels and Banghra dancing. Given Saturday in the Student Union by speakers such as Toronto-based disc jockey and producer RobbG, the lectures are free and open to the public. Registration for them begins at 12:30 p.m.

The lectures will be followed by more electronic music performed on the steps of South Building from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., as well as a reception with food.

EMS President Thomas Logan said the festival is the largest event the group has ever organized and an important learning opportunity for the campus community.

"Electronic music is one of the newest art forms, and our organization is all about exposing the community to new art forms like it," Logan said.

And while members of EMS wow the crowd in front of South Building with their turntables, the Clef Hangers, an always popular campus a cappella group, will be preparing for their spring concert.

The Clefs' final performance of the year, the concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Hall.

Themed "This Old House," the concert will be the last performance to take place in Memorial Hall before renovations begin, as well as the final show for the Clef Hangers' six senior members.

Senior member Christian Moretz, a tenor, said the group has been experimenting with gospel music and more contemporary rock songs than in the past. "This time we're exploring some new genres that we haven't in the past, so it should be entertaining," he said.

Songs to be performed range from the gospel piece, "There's a Leak in the Old Building" and Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville," a song Moretz said would be a crowd-pleaser because of Buffet's recent performance in Alltel Pavilion.

Tickets are $7 and can be purchased in the Pit this week.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.