Switchfoot, the famed alternative rock band from San Diego, will be performing at Walla Walla University on Monday, April 21. While tickets were at first only available to WWU students, sales have opened up to the public and tickets are now available in the WWU bookstore and student activities office for $25.
First starting as a Christian band, Switchfoot has steadily gained recognition and acclaim since 2002, and they continue to release albums to this day. Their latest tour, “Fading West,” was recently made into a film documentary released in December of last year. The band is renowned for their energetic live performances, and the group also hosts annual “Bro-Am” surfing competitions to raise money to help homeless children, the 10th of which will be held this year.
Getting such a high profile band to a more remote area like Walla Walla can be difficult with conflicting schedules and transportation concerns, but everything has finally come together for this upcoming performance.
“The university has been wanting Switchfoot to play a show at their school for quite some time, so we finally were able to make it work with the band’s touring schedule,” said band promoter Emily Chan.
This Switchfoot concert has actually been planned before but has repeatedly been canceled for one reason or another.
“Our students have been wanting Switchfoot for as long as I’ve been working here,” said WWU Event Promoter Don Hepker. “We’ve contacted their management for the last five years, but something has always come up and the band could never make it.”
The band was actually set to play last fall while they were on a tour of various colleges, but it fell through at the last minute. Hepker said that the band was very apologetic and worked to get a new concert set for the following year. After finalizing the contracts in January, the long sought-after band is finally coming to Walla Walla.
Bands that end up playing at WWU either are contacted by the school directly, or they express their own desire to play there. Despite not being located in a big city where bands typically plan tours, WWU has managed to bring several high profile bands to Walla Walla.
“In recent years, we’ve had Kutless, Building 429, Super Chick and Gunger plus a lot of smaller bands,” said Hepker.
The university is very excited to finally bring Switchfoot to Walla Walla, especially since some WWU students are family friends of band members.
