Soybean concert faces thunderstorm complications

SAC hosted Students’ Night at the Soybean Festival on Thursday, Sept. 6. However, things didn't go as planned when thunderstorms hit Martin and the two main bands scheduled, Fools for Rowan and Bowling for Soup, faced delays and cancelations.

According to Jessie McNeel, when originally scheduling the bands, they were contracted by Tim Barrington of the Visual and Theatre Arts Department at the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA).

NACA is an association that was created in the 1960s to assist in higher learning by helping professionals and higher educational institutions with activities. Barrington approached each band’s showcase at NACA in the hopes of contracting them to perform at the Soybean Festival. According to McNeel, the figures of Bowling for Soup’s contract were around $20,000, and the City of Martin split the cost with UTM.

When BFS was showcasing at NACA, the SAC was astonished by how crazy the crowd was going and they hoped to bring some of that flavor to Martin, not only to inspire students of UTM to attend the Soybean Festival, but the community of Martin as well.

“We [were] just hoping everyone [would] enjoy them,” McNeel said.

McNeel has also been a fan of BFS since her middle school days. When asked if McNeel was going to be at the concert, she expressed excitedly that she was going and meeting the band.

“I’m definitely going to be there!” McNeel said.

The other band scheduled, Fools for Rowan, were to open for BFS at 7 p.m. last night. However, they were cancelled due to the weather, and only BFS was able to play at 9:30 p.m., 30 minutes later than originally scheduled for.

Fools for Rowan began in 2009 and is located in Nashville; the members are lead singer Eric Mullins, lead guitarist Rachel Brandsness, drummer Jordan Cullen, guitarist Ryan Nanney and vocalist Andrew Williams. Two of these musicians, Nanney and Williams, are UTM alumni who got to revisit the campus and town while being here.

As for the headlining band, BFS began in 1994 and their biggest hit was and still is the song, “1985” which was performed as their show-closer Thursday night. Members of BFS include lead singer Jaret Reddick, lead guitarist Chris Burney, bass guitarist Erik Chandler and drummer Lance Morrill.

Reddick produced a lot of jokes to keep the crowd interested, like joking about all the bad weather and other topics like the Ribeye Steak Sandwich and the Gone Nutz vendors that decided to “brave the weather.”

By attending the show Thursday, anyone could see that BFS was a major hit. They were funny and the performance brought back the 90s vibe so many love to reminisce in. Energy ran through the crowd, and everyone, young and old, seemed to really enjoy themselves.