Students Josh Braun and Kassie Schnell want to get the Kress Center 'rockin'
Update: The big student-booked concert Saturday (April 24) at the Kress Events Center has been canceled (but not for the lack of effort by its promoters). The show by the pop/punk/metal/’screamo’ band Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will not be rescheduled.
Coming Saturday, April 24, the Kress Events Center at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay will be setting the stage to rock out to Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.
The live event will take place at 8 p.m., and is sponsored by Good Times Programming. The alternative group (also known to play a mix of pop-punk, pop, screamo and metal) was selected via an opinion poll on an e-mail survey to students.
UW-Green Bay students Kassie Schnell and Josh Braun, in their roles as public relations coordinators with Good Times, are working hard to promote the concert.
They’ve used sidewalk chalk, social networking, posters, advertising, ticket incentives and gimmicks (serving red Kool-Aid in the Union) to get the word out. There shouldn’t be a fan in a 50-mile radius who can claim “they didn’t know!”
Lead singer Ronnie Winter and lead guitarist Duke Kitchens joined forces to create RJA in 2003 out of Middleburg, Fl. They released their first self-titled album in 2004 and then released their first Virgin Records album, Don’t You Fake It, in July 2006. The album was an immediate success, going certified gold just four months after release. Songs such as “Face Down” and “Your Guardian Angel” have topped the U.S charts, while many of the albums’ other songs have been featured in video games and movies.
The band released its sophomore album Lonely Road in February 2009, and is currently on a national tour that started in early March, and will end on July 16 at Rock Fest in Cadott, Wis.
For Schnell and Braun, it’s not just about bringing great entertainment to campus, but applying their communication skills in a real-life learning environment.
“We’ve had to conduct ourselves in a professional manner every single day, whether it’s talking to agents on the phone or being interviewed for a newspaper, radio station or magazine,” said Schnell.
Meanwhile, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has increased its popularity by playing concerts at numerous charity events, fundraisers and relief efforts. In May of 2007, RJA performed at Fort Rucker, Ala. to help benefit the rebuilding of a school devastated by a tornado. The group has also headlined for the Take Action! Tour, which sponsors awareness against teen suicide and animal cruelty, among other causes.
Tickets for the event cost $15 for UW-Green Bay students and $20 for the general public. Tickets are available for purchase at the Weidner Center box office, the UW-Green Bay University Ticketing and Information Center, or by calling the UTIC at 920-465-2400. Tickets can also be purchased online.
Story by Paul Mee, intern, Office of Marketing and Communicaton, UW-Green Bay
