Modest Mouse headlined the Frost Revival Music and Arts Festivalon Saturday afternoon at the Laurence Frost Amphitheater, marking the first time the venue had been used for this large of an event since the 1980s.
The festival was planned by the Stanford Concert Network (SCN) and featured musical performances by Modest Mouse, Eyes Lips Eyes and Benjamin Francis Leftwich. In addition to the musical performers, Frost Amphitheater also housed numerous large-scale student art projects.
According to SCN co-director Alberto Aroeste ’13, organizers sold 4,500 tickets in presale. The amphitheater has a capacity of 5,400.
Katie Chabolla, SCN’s financial officer, confirmed there was a profit from ticket sales.
“All profits will go into a fund for next year’s festival,” she said.
Frost was open not only to Stanford students and affiliates, but also the general public.
“The crowd that the musical artists drew is really fun,” Elizabeth Matus ’14 said at the show. “Lots of people from the city showed up, and I really don’t feel like I’m at school at all.”
Attendees came not just for the music, but the atmosphere, as well. Frost is a renowned venue that has had an illustrious history of visiting artists, and its revival was long anticipated.
“I had never heard of the first two artists but I was still really excited to come enjoy them,” said Emily Kizzia, ’12. “I would have come for any artist. I really came for the incredible vibes.”
For most students, Frost had been mostly forgotten, as very few events are held there and none come close to filling its huge capacity.
“The biggest event I’ve been to at Frost before this was senior wine tasting,” Kizzia said. “That’s how I realized how incredible this event was going to be. I didn’t really know it was there before. And the fact that you can’t see any part of campus from inside makes me really feel like I’m not on campus.”
During the past two New Student Orientations (NSO), Grammy Award-winning bassist Victor Wooten has entertained new students in concerts at Frost.
“I feel like I got introduced to Frost right away because of the Victor Wooten concert during NSO,” Matus said. “It was so secluded yet open at the same time, and I thought, ‘What is this place? It’s absolutely beautiful.’ I was also excited because I had heard they were giving out these art grants so that students could showcase their art.”
Attendees were greeted at the gate by a 15-foot high octopus made entirely of bamboo that protruded from the ground. As guests made their way around the outer perimeter of Frost, they encountered forests of head-high mushrooms, tie-dye banners filled with poetry and a wall of clocks called “the Wishing Wall.”
“Every five minutes, one of the clocks on the Wishing Wall strikes 11:11, and you are supposed to make a wish,” said Tina Miller ’14, the student who spearheaded the Wishing Wall project. “The idea behind the wishing wall started with Japanese Omamori prayer lines, but instead of praying to a god, the Frost wishing wall was just a way to share your wish with the community. Guests are meant to make a wish and take a wish.”
As attendees exited, 18-foot high neon Truffula Trees with mechanically rotating feather palm heads stood along the pathway, accompanied by a sign that explained they were a tribute to Dr. Seuss’ story “The Lorax,” whose protagonist speaks for trees affected by pollution at a nearby factory. At the base of the trees in Frost there was a basket of seeds with a sign instructing guests to plant the seed on their way out.
The student art projects were funded through grants distributed by Aroeste. Beginning three weeks before spring break, SCN began distributing flyers around campus for art project proposals. Soon after spring break, the group had narrowed their choices.
“For a while, a lot of the art projects seemed impossibly daunting, but we were able to pull them all together with a lot of help from our volunteers, and they all turned out great,” Aroeste said.
SCN is already planning the next Frost Festival.
“We are working to make Frost even bigger and better for next year,” Chabolla said.