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| Yellowcard performs in the Kellogg Gym as part of the 2006 Virgin College Mega Tour. |
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| Nearly 4,200 fans sang along to Yellowcard's hits at the on-campus concert. |
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| Yellowcard's lead singer Ryan Key belts one out. |
Rock group Yellowcard performed for more than 4,200 fans in the university's Kellogg Gym on April 19 as part of the 2006 Virgin College Mega Tour. Nearly 1,300 attendees were from the campus community.
The group gave a 90-minute stage performance that included hits from its double-platinum Ocean Avenue and brand new release Lights and Sounds. Rock quintet Mae and Over It were the opening acts.
“The atmosphere was surreal,” says Jeff Cox, interim marketing coordinator for Associated Students Inc. (ASI) Programs, Recreational Sports & Marketing. “The gym was transformed into a full on rock show. Bands electrified the air, and it was a big sing-along for three-and-a-half hours. You felt the vibrations in the building during the show, and once the lights came back on, the crowd just roared.”
The concert was presented by Goldenvoice and ASI, a partnership that began as an idea by music business senior Karlo Arenas.
“I wanted to put Cal Poly Pomona on the map in terms of serving as a place where artists can come and play for a great crowd,” says Arenas, who will begin working as a development assistant for ASI in July. “I also wanted to create a sense of pride amongst our students. Now they know that even though we're a commuter campus, we can have big concerts just like any of the other universities.”
Cox says it was obvious the concert would be successful even before it began.
“When we started seeing people lining up and sitting in front of gym, we knew it was going to be a success,” he says. “As the time came closer to doors opening, the line was wrapped all around the building, four people wide and hundreds of feet long. We knew we'd captured something. A concert of this magnitude hadn't been done at Cal Poly Pomona in two decades.”
ASI is already working with Goldenvoice to bring other big-name performers to campus.
“This is only the beginning,” says Arenas.