Bird Bash has country flash

Bird Bash was a last-minute addition that struck a chord with the Student Body. The show at Germain Arena this past Friday was a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

It was also a lot different from anything FGCU had seen in at least four years. Headliner Luke Bryan along with Candy Coburn and Corey Smith were the performers at Bird Bash, the brainchild of Mike Frustaci, director of the Board of Eagle Entertainment Programming.

Frustaci came up with the idea for the concert after he was told that Eaglepalooza would not have entertainment.

"I wasn't happy that we were going from two concerts to one, especially on my watch," he said.

After Frustaci started planning Bird Bash, it was decided that Eaglepalooza would include a concert after all, but Frustaci decided to keep the new concert on the roster.

Frustaci and his staff planned the concert starting in July. Because it was the summer, Frustaci said there were fewer people on campus to consult when narrowing down the list of available performers.

"I would be at Orientation asking students. I kind of tested the field," Frustaci said. Student attendance for the concert was comparable to that of Nest Fest, according to Frustaci - 1,122 student tickets were given out for Bird Bash, 1,013 were distributed for Nest Fest.

Some students even got the chance to meet the musicians backstage.

Janna Dewey, a sophomore double majoring in psychology and theater who recently discovered her love for country music, said Bryan is one of her favorite artists. A friend gave Dewey a "Meet and Greet" pass so she could meet him.

She had been thinking about meeting the "All My Friends Say" musician all day. "I've never met anyone famous before," Dewey said.

After she bought a T-shirt for Bryan to sign, Dewey stood in a line with about 50 other fans, many fellow FGCU students. Amanda Porter, a freshman majoring in psychology, was next to Dewey in line. Porter won her "Meet and Greet" ticket through a contest held by Bryan's fan club, Nuthouse.

"I cried when I got the e-mail saying that I got the 'Meet and Greet' pass," Porter said.

When Bryan entered the area, the fans, including Dewey and Porter, grew more excited. Porter was fidgeting in her tan cowboy boots, staring at the cover of the CD she held in her hands. Dewey's cheeks had grown red.

"It's like a mini-adrenaline rush," Dewey said.

Ahead of Dewey and Porter in the line was Jason Anderson, 22, a Fort Myers resident and avid concertgoer who has been attending shows since he was a kid. The habit "sorta stuck," he said.

Anderson wore a well-worn cowboy hat covered with Sharpie signatures of country artists he'd met at various events: Billy Currington, Craig Morgan, Cowboy Troy, Sarah Buxton and Rodney Atkins.

"I do live for concerts," Anderson said. After the pre-concert meet and greet, Bryan, although he was the headliner, played first. He wore a green flannel shirt and a frayed baseball cap. Every once in a while, he'd wink at fans and throw guitar picks at the crowd.

"You're a good-looking bunch," he said. At one point, Bryan performed a rendition of "Apologize" by One Republic. The song, which topped the pop charts, was treated with the acoustic twang needed to sound more folkloric. As in the recorded version, Bryan hit the falsettos, but he added his own tonal flourishes to make it his own.

Corey Smith's performance ended the night. He played his guitar wearing dark sunglasses and standing atop an orange shag rug.

The concert was a chance for country music fans to be a part of campus activities. Heather Hall, a senior in health science, had only attended an FGCU concert once during her four years at the university.

Hall is a big fan of country music and serves as Miss Rodeo Florida. As a longtime supporter of the genre, she enjoyed watching her fellow students get into the spirit.

"It's funny to see the people (dressed) in their version of country," Hall said.

Although more students got tickets for Bird Bash than they did for last year's Nest Fest, the concert is not guaranteed to happen again.

"Right now we are not promising it is going to be an annual event, but it's not out of the question," Frustaci said.

Frustaci said the future of Bird Bash is up to students. "Let Student Government know," he said.