September is nearing, which in Bulldog Country means weekends filled with tailgating, team cheering and the biggest student-run outdoor music festival in the state of Mississippi.
Bulldog Bash, headed up by the Student Association’s external events branch, brings in national acts on a yearly basis to coincide with a high crowd-drawing football game. The streets of the Cotton District fill to the brim for the event. 2005’s projection for the number of attendees was upwards of 35,000.
This year’s event takes place on Sept. 8, coinciding with the MSU vs. Auburn game, and boasts a diverse line-up with artists representing genres from hip-hop to modern rock to Christian jam.
Leading the pack are established rockers Sister Hazel, Bad Boy Records’ up-and-coming hip-hop/R&B star Cheri Dennis and Christian group Big Daddy Weave.
Sister Hazel, best know for their late-’90s single “All For You” and 2003’s “Everybody” will take center stage next to Bin612 at 11 p.m.
Dennis, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ latest female prot‹¨g‹¨ will show some love beforehand on the same stage at 9:30 p.m. Her first single, “I Love You,” is currently featured on BET’s 106 and Park.
Big Daddy Weave will rock and praise as the sun is still falling at 8 p.m. The group’s upbeat spirit and songs from its 2003 album Fields of Grace and 2005 album What I Was Made For are sure to rock a few spiritual heads.
Other acts include singer-pianist Rob Blackledge, Indie-rockers and Jackson-natives Tandem, Easy Street, Red Hill City and Patrick Smith.
Co-directors of external events Heather Ladner and Tyler Stacy have been organizing this year’s Bulldog Bash since April. Stacy said one of the primary objectives for this year’s event was adding diversity.
“We wanted to have something for everybody, and we want more people involved,” he said.
Ladner said the acts she and Stacy chose should bring in more people.
“Sister Hazel will pull in a huge crowd, and Big Daddy Weave will pull in a whole new crowd,”she said. “It’s a way the SA can reach out to everybody.”
Stacy said the process for finding the musicians was extensive but smooth.
“We just started with a list of bands we wanted to come,” he said. “We wanted upbeat bands for a fun atmosphere.”
“Big Daddy Weave has a lot of good songs; they’re fun. Sister Hazel has been to Starkville before, but not in an outdoor capacity. Outside, you’ll get a lot more people,” Stacy added.
The duo is confident that the 2006 Bash will be bigger than ever.
“It’s one of the best weekends of the year,” Ladner said. “You have people come in from all over. Last year I talked to a Georgia fan who said there was nothing like it in Athens.”
For more information about Bulldog Bash, visit the SA Web site at www.sustudentassociation.com.