On April 6, Mississippi State University got their fill of MTV as the network’s Campus Invasion Tour 2K2 rocked The Hump. Nickelback, Default and Injected played a combined 3-hour set to a mostly packed crowd.
“I thought it was a very entertaining show,” MSU junior Deanna Dye said.
In the final hour before show time, Bulldogs lined the coliseum grounds like marching ants, anxious to begin their night of head-bobbing, cigarette lighter-waving fun. But even before the sun set, there was many a creature stirring at an outdoor activities center.
At the karaoke station, MSU students Erica Bumpers, Ashley Lay and James Eison kept coming back for encores.
“We got up there to sing so many times, they started calling us the house band,” Lay said with a laugh. “I got a few peculiar applauses from some of the guys.”
Starsailor, the “other” house band, performed a free outdoor concert.
A few hours later, the indoor mayhem began at 8 p.m. as Injected took the stage. Unfortunately, the crowd’s unfamiliarity with the Atlanta-based band made for only mildly flattering ovations.
For what it’s worth, Injected had the best hairdos (including a mohawked guitarist and a drummer reminiscent of Animal from “The Muppet Show”) of the three bands.
Following Injected’s lukewarm performance was Default. The band got the crowd moving with rockers like “Sick And Tired” and “Deny” and sparked a sea of cigarette lighters with ballads like “Live A Lie” and “Let You Down.”
Although the crowd was noisy, their hind-parts remained mostly seated until Default performed their hit single, “Wasting My Time.” At that point, the sleeping giant was awoken.
For Lay, Default’s performance was a truly soaking experience.
“The lead singer (Dallas Smith) threw me his towel; it was pretty sweaty,” Lay said with a smile.
Finally, it was time for the headliners to headline as Nickelback took the driver’s seat.
“The lead singer of Nickelback (Chad Kroeger) was really cute,” Dye said.
However, this is not a band that thrives on sex appeal. Well, not just on sex appeal. Under a blizzard of flashing computerized lights, Nickelback thrilled the crowd with tracks from their current album, Silver Side Up, as well as older songs like “Breathe” and “Leader Of Men.”
However, it was the unreleased tracks that captivated the audience.
Although Silver Side Up was only released six months ago and the band has since been busy touring Europe and the United States, Nickelback managed to write their next album already.
Much to the crowd’s delight, Nickelback performed a few unreleased, unrecorded tracks. Kroeger said that at least one of these songs was performed live for the first time anywhere.
With a large crowd and rave reviews from many of the fans, it would seem safe to say that Music Makers’ last event of the school year was a success. If nothing else, the concert exceeded the expectations of at least one towel-clad fan.
“It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be,” Lay said.