SCOPE 2007 Fall Semester-In-Review
The Fall 2007 semester marked SCOPE Productions' return to the Iowa Memorial Union's Main Lounge, and the lineup of artists took full advantage of the renovated space.
SCOPE opened the fall concert season on September 17 with incendiary rock group Kings of Leon—one of Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 20 live acts (and the first of two of those in the fall lineup). This was one of KOL's smallest shows of the tour, and they took the opportunity to introduce extended jams and songs rarely played during the rest of their cross-country trek.
The next night, SCOPE moved back upstairs to the Second Floor Ballroom to bring Iowa City They Might Be Giants. The crowd ranged from old-time fans from their 1986 hit "Don't Let's Start" to college fans introduced to the group through their theme song for TV show Malcolm In The Middle, and TMBG treated them to a spectacular display of lights and sound.
On Friday, September 28, SCOPE produced the annual Homecoming concert on the University's Pentacrest with Ben Kweller and Three Dog Night. The evening provided an enthusiastic overture to Saturday's festivities, and capped off a week of school spirit with music for students, their parents, and their parents' parents.
October 1 saw Ryan Adams & The Cardinals in the Main Lounge. Usually a standing-room-only affair, SCOPE crammed 1,200 chairs into the room for the show, which featured extended jams and rarely-played cuts from Adams' catalogue that were new to all but his most die-hard fans.
Two weeks later, Adams' former alt-country rival Jeff Tweedy brought his band into town for an October 14 date with Chicago's own Wilco. The concert was Wilco's most intimate of the tour. Even so, the Main Lounge was packed, and the crowd was so enthused by the show that they brought the band back for not one, but two extended encores.
After the Wilco show, SCOPE packed its bags for the historic Englert Theatre and an October 18th date with southern-rock dynamos Drive-By Truckers. DBT offered a unique show, stripping down their set for a semi-acoustic experience. However, the energy in the building was too much for even the band to contain themselves, and they abandoned their acoustic intentions in favor of their signature raunchy rock romps by the time the second half of the show rolled around.
The first of SCOPE's two November shows brought Nebraska wunderkind Connor Oberst back to town for a November 4th date with Bright Eyes. Bright Eyes and openers Capgun Coup and Simon Joyner popped on and off the stage all night, sitting in on each other's sets, jamming on old standards, and generally having a good time onstage. The audience followed suit, and when Bright Eyes ended their set with pulse-pounding intensity spiraling into joyful anarchy, nobody wanted the night to end.
SCOPE ended the semester with a show for Iowa City's jamband fans, teaming up with the Englert to bring the Emmitt Nershi Band to town. The Emmitt Nershi Band is the collaborative effort of members of the String-Cheese Incident and Leftover Salmon, and the audience was treated to a playful, tongue-in-cheek tribute to rock, bluegrass, and folk—at one point the whole room digressed into a sing-along of Louie Louie. It was a fitting end to the 2007 semester, and SCOPE is looking forward to bringing more great music to Iowa City in the year to come. Thanks for supporting great music in your community.
If you would like more information about SCOPE and our upcoming shows, please visit our website at www.scopeproductions.org.