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The show will take place tomorrow starting at 12 p.m. and will run through 8 p.m. The stage will be located in the area next to the MOB practice field.

Organized by members of the KTRU staff, the Outdoor Show will host local acts Junior Varsity, The Texas Guinness Lovers, Spoon (from Austin) and Rice's very own Terrace, Bug and the Baptist Commission. Sarge, who is currently on tour, plays out of Urbana-Champaign, and the Gold Sparkle Band will travel from Boston for the show. Headliner Peter Jeffries hales from New Zealand.

The mix of bands will include everything from "lo-fi garage punk" (Junior Varsity) to pop punk sounds (Sarge) to the Gold Sparkle Band (which plays a mixture of free and traditional jazz) to bands such as Jeffries,who entertains with his broad-based musical talent (he plays piano, guitar and cello).

"[Jeffries'] style has been described as emotional and compelling," show co-coordinator Heather Colvin said.

The show's diverse lineup has a great deal to do with the goal of KTRU: to educate its audience in all different genres of music.

Melissa Jacobs, another member of the KTRU staff and the one who was instrumental in bringing Sarge to the concert, emphasized the role of having bands of divergent styles come to play at one venue.

"I am glad Sarge was able to come because it gives the band more exposure to students who would not necessarily go to a different place to see them," Jacobs said.

Jacobs was able to get Sarge to appear because they happened to be coming this way for a short tour.

"They wanted to come down, and this ended up being an optimal situation for them," Jacobs said.

Although the show coordinators are happy with the lineup they put together, there was some disappointment as not all of the acts they wanted were able to make the commitment.

For Richard Sawyer, show co-coordinator, the biggest frustration was having John Fahey cancel at the last minute.

"It was difficult for the show to come together," Sawyer said. "I was very disappointed with the John Fahey outcome. I worked for weeks to get him on the billing, but, due to the unfortunately extended game of phone tag between myself and Fahey's representative, it became impossible to get him a cheap plane ticket. Unfortunately, performers need to eat and KTRU is confined to a budget."

The budget constraints Colvin and Sawyer had to work within included both money from KTRU as well as grants from various businesses around the Houston area. Even the Rice Program Council and Baker, Will Rice and Hanszen colleges donated money to support the show.

"There have been some serious obstacles to overcome in planning this event, but things are working out," Colvin said. "It should be a really great show with something for everyone."

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 21, 1997 issue.