When mentions of Springfest begin to surface, you know it's that time of year when you can really start to let your hair down. It's when students can finally listen to "Here Comes the Sun" again on their iPods while they stroll carelessly around campus, basking in the light of a new, greatly anticipated season. However, the event is making an early appearance this year, one that might put its outdoor glory in jeopardy due to possible inclement weather this early in the spring. Though it is planned for the Great Lawn, Levin Ballroom is the rain location.Student Events organizer Shira Espo '08 says that the April 6 date was unavoidable this year. "It was our only option in terms of booking the space without major conflicts happening on campus," she said. There is no need to worry, though, because a Levin Ballroom venue would not be a disaster. It is certainly a large enough space to hold a fun concert, and the acoustics might even sound more evenly balanced than it would outside.

The preparation labors this year have been more fluid than in previous years, as the two groups sponsoring the event, WBRS and Student Events, have been communicating effectively. "Communication has presented problems in past years," says Espo, "but we've been working together quite well in the months and weeks leading up to the event, and I'm optimistic that, come April 6, the two groups will come together as one to pull off the four-hour-long concert without a hitch."

Yeah, that's right. There's going to be four hours' worth of music. So who are these bands that you, the student body, supposedly chose when that WBRS kid came knocking on your door with a questionnaire while you were in the middle of enjoying the warm relief of those final, blissful sips of Cup of Noodles at 1 a.m.?

The Pietasters, a ska band with generic, fast ska horn riffs and beats, has an old-fashioned feel, primarily due to the singer's drawl and hoarse, guttural tones. There isn't much else to say about this group. If you absolutely love ska, you will like them, if you hate ska and are baffled by its existence, then they will piss you off.

Minus the Bear is an indie rock band from Seattle with spacey guitar vibes over solid beats that back even-more spacey vocals. The singer's voice is as ambling and indirect as the wind. The group is likely to please the University's indie contingent.

Jedi Mind Tricks, a Philadelphia-based hip hop band, incorporates elements of death metal. They deliver angsty lyrics over laid-back tempos and dark, electronic melodies. Among their influences on their Myspace page, the band includes Allah, Italy, Nietzsche, Howard Stern, Public Enemy, Soren Kierkegaard, Jay-Z and Andy Kaufman.

And finally the headlining band, the one everyone has been waiting for since 2006 when they played that year's Springfest: State Radio. The band, led by Chad Urmston, the lead singer from Dispatch, is a politically-charged, reggae-ized band. They have retained some of Dispatch's melodic intrigue and mixes it with liberal social complaints, loud guitar and weird beats.

In addition to the concert, free beer will be served for those of age and WBRS-themed merchandise will be handed out. There will also be a raffle in which one person will win the grand prize-tickets to the All Points West festival, a rock festival in the vein of Coachella and Lollapalooza, August 8 to 10 in New Jersey's Liberty State Park.