jmcabe's Blog

University Union announces Juice Jam 2013 lineup

By Jessica Cabe
August 11, 2013 - 10:06 pm
Kendrick Lamar, Nicky Romero, The Neighbourhood, Robert DeLong, Ab-Soul and Smallpools will perform at the first-ever Juice Jam Festival.

Two stages, six acts and a whole lot of party.

University Union announced the lineup for Juice Jam 2013 at 10 tonight. For the first time, the annual concert will be in festival format, offering even more musical acts than ever.

Kendrick Lamar, Nicky Romero and The Neighbourhood will perform at the main stage. Robert DeLong, Ab-Soul and Smallpools will rock out the indie stage on Sept. 8 at Skytop Field.

Tickets to Juice Jam Festival are $10 with an SU/ESF ID. Online sales begin Tuesday, and Schine Box Office sales begin Aug. 22.

In addition to our previous predictions here at The NewsHouse, up-and-coming rapper Kendrick Lamar and his label-mate Ab-Soul, as well as electo-indie pop-rock-I-don't-know-what Smallpools, will be hittin' up the Hill in less than a month.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar will be one of six performers at this year's Juice Jam Festival.

Kendrick Lamar is the biggest name on the bill, but I'm most excited about Robert DeLong. I'm not a huge EDM fan, but DeLong brings something fresh to a largely over-hyped genre.

Biggest disappointment: There's no rock band. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but would it kill us to hear a distorted guitar every now and then? I don't count the poppy tunes of The Neighbourhood and Smallpools as rock, and neither should you.

Nevertheless, it's a nice mix, and for $10, even I can't complain.


Kendrick Lamar photo by NRK P3/Flickr

Nicky Romero, Robert DeLong likely to perform at Juice Jam

By Jessica Cabe
August 9, 2013 - 5:05 pm
University Union will announce the Sept. 8 music fest's lineup Sunday, but a little research turns up three almost certain acts.

Update: Alternative rock band The Neighbourhood has announced a stop on their fall tour at Skytop Field on Sept. 8.

University Union has been busy teasing us with hints about Juice Jam, which will take place on Sept. 8 at Skytop Field. An Aug. 1 Facebook post revealed that the concert is now in festival format with multiple stages:

"Looks like ‪#‎JuiceJam‬ just got jam-packed with acts. On September 8th, we're bringing something bigger and better to Skytop with a multi-stage music festival! Be on the look out for our list of performers, coming to you on August 11th at 10 pm! Tickets go on sale online on August13th, $10 with SU/ESF ID"

Well, University Union, I just couldn't wait until Sunday, so I did a little bit of digging myself to see if I could figure out which acts will be on the bill. None of the following speculation is confirmed, of course, but two acts seem certain.

 

Nicky Romero

Nicky Romero's tour poster lists a "To Be Announced" show in Upstate New York on the same day as Juice Jam. There is also a listing for "Block Party" in London, Canada, on that same date, but I'm not convinced it's not just a ruse to throw people like me off. That would be the case if last year's co-headliner Calvin Harris hadn't doubled up Juice Jam 2012 and the Canadian Block Party on the same day.

Romero would not be a totally surprising act for Juice Jam, which usually features at least one EDM/house DJ. Personally, I wouldn't be heartbroken if Romero does end up in Canada all day, because I just don't "get" what he does. I'm sure it would be fun to see him live, though, so I'm really neither here nor there.

Robert DeLong, another electronic musician, is also a fairly safe bet. Pollstar has this date listed: "Skytop Athletic Field" in Syracuse on Sept. 8. It doesn't get much easier to predict than that.

Robert DeLong

DeLong is a bit more intriguing to me, a guitar and saxophone player, because of his history with "real" instruments. I like the way he blends his indie past with modern electronic trends, and I think he'd put on a good show.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Juice Jam without a hip-hop act and some kind of hipster band. Hopsin would be my dream act on the hip-hop end, but unfortunately he's all the way in California on the date of Juice Jam. I think there's a lot of exciting stuff going on with up-and-coming rappers, so I'm sure I'll be happy with whoever ends up on the bill.

As for my dream indie acts, I'd love to see Yuck and/or the Dum Dum Girls. There's absolutely no reason for me to believe they'll actually appear at Juice Jam, but a girl can dream.

I'm anxious to see not only who performs, but how many acts will be here in September for the first Juice Jam in a festival format. No matter what happens, I'll be here Sunday night to tell you about it.

Robert DeLong photo by WFUV/Flickr