Sept. 23, 2005, is destined to be a date that will stick in many students’ minds as country music star Julie Roberts and R&B group 112 will take the stage at this year’s Bulldog Bash. The MSU Student Association expects this year’s Bulldog Bash to be the biggest in the music festival’s history.
Country music singer Julie Roberts is one of the biggest acts in her genre, with her hit self-titled debut album and its first hit single “Break Down Here” topping charts across the nation.
112, one of the biggest R&B groups in the nation, especially in the late ’90s, has had tremendous success throughout their career with hits such as “Only You,” “Peaches & Cream” and, most recently, this year’s hit R&B single, “U Already Know.”
Co-directors of external affairs for the SA, Tyler Wolfe and Lauren Burns, said that choosing the acts for this year’s Bulldog Bash was simply a matter of getting what the students wanted to hear: a broad range of music.
“With both of the musical acts, we were looking for names that the students would know,” Wolfe said. “Last year we went for Howie Day and, at the time, he wasn’t very well known. He’s blown up since then, but we really wanted to get someone the students knew well,” he said. “I think we accomplished that with 112 and Julie Roberts.”
“We really wanted to have a country artist [perform] because that hasn’t happened yet,” Burns said. “With Julie Roberts, she’s becoming big right now and she’s already had a couple of hits, so it was just a good fit,” she said. “With 112, people might not recognize the name at first, but they’ll know them once they realize they sing ‘Peaches & Cream,’ which is their biggest hit,” she said.
Student Association president Jon David Cole also added that the diversity in the two main acts was something the SA has been wanting to accomplish with Bulldog Bash for years.
“When we set out for Bulldog Bash this year, I had two stipulations,” Cole said.
“One was that we would have a solid country music act because we have never really had one; every country music fan I know comes up to me after Bulldog Bash and says that it’s a great event but asks why there isn’t any country music. I wanted to remedy that this year, and we feel that with Julie Roberts, we have done that,” he said.
Cole also said that, along with pleasing the country music fans, he wanted to make sure the R&B crowd had a place at Bulldog Bash as well.
“Another stipulation I set forth for the Bulldog Bash team was to find an R&B artist that would truly resonate with the community,” Cole said. “I think we owe it to students on campus that enjoy R&B music, and I really believe this will be the highest profile R&B act we’ve ever had.”
As for how MSU students will react to news of such huge profile artists like 112 and Julie Roberts performing at Bulldog Bash, Cole, Wolfe and Burns all agree that the students will be very surprised and ready for one of the biggest concerts in Mississippi State history.
“[Julie Roberts and 112] are the biggest artists we’ve ever had and I think the students will react favorably to them,” Cole said. “Bulldog Bash gets bigger and bigger every year, and it’s something we want to improve upon. We feel like we’ll be reaching more people this year than we ever have before, and I really think students will come to associate Bulldog Bash with a very impressive show,” he said.
“I think students will be very excited and ready for this concert,” Wolfe said. “Students are already excited about Bulldog Bash, and I think the news of 112 and Julie Roberts performing will add so much more to it.”
“I definitely think it’s going to be our biggest crowd,” Burns said. “We’re expecting around 35,000 people this year, and with the acts we have, there’ll be so many different types of students that will come.”
The magnitude of artists like Julie Roberts and 112 has the potential to help the SA add even more star power to future Bulldog Bash line-ups. Cole and Burns both said that this year’s Bulldog Bash will bring nothing but positive attitudes and higher expectations for future SA events.
“I think [Roberts and 112 performing] will help future Bulldog Bash’s greatly because usually people think of Bulldog Bash as the place where artists come who haven’t gotten big yet or ones that are on their way down,” Burns said, “but this year, we have two artists that are doing great right now, and this type of publicity also looks good for MSU as well.”
“I think that because of this event, people will come to expect more out of the Student Association and Bulldog Bash,” Cole said. “I think we’ve done a great job with [Bulldog] Bash in the past, and the artists this year are unparalleled, and we think people will come to expect no less from us in the future.”