After a two year drought with no live music, the student activities office has decided to break the streak and have a concert.

“Southernpalooza” will be the theme for finals madness this year, and it will feature four local bands.

Graham Dickinson, senior business finance major, said the last director of student activities refused to do any live music events after having the first and only live music event she planned bomb. He said there were only 12 or 15 people at the event and afterward, she refused to budge no matter how many students pushed the issue.

But Dickinson did say the group who played the last event was a no-name band and he expects a much bigger crowd this time around.

“Finals Madness is usually an event that goes over big anyway, so this can be kind of a good kickoff for future live music events,” Dickinson said. “And the bands already have a decent fan base in Joplin, so more people are going to come out. Hopefully, we’ll even get more of the younger students to show.”

Tori Maloukis, director of student activities, said if this event goes well, she will plan on having more music next fall.

“We actually have something in the works right now,” Maloukis said. “We’re just waiting to hear back from the band.”

She said she is hoping this kind of event will appeal to the younger students at Southern because even though the events she has had this year have had good turnouts, she would still like to see more participation.

“We’ve had a lot of students ask for more college-age appropriate programming and what better way to do that than to throw a concert,” Maloukis said.

The line-up for the show starts with Brown Bag Special, a local band which plays a mix of rock with a bit of southern and classic rock influences. Then Macon, a band that leans more towards the alternative rock and indie sound, will play next. After Macon, the concert will change pace by playing Cinna the Poet, a harder-sounding rock with a mix of reggae and punk. Then, to finish the event off, The Ben Miller Band will play a “mix of old style blues with bluegrass, zydeco, folk and hip hop.”

Dickinson said when the Campus Activities Board was planning the event, the Board decided on having music that fit into the rock genre, although these bands are all from different parts of the spectrum in the terms of rock music.

Southernpalooza will also play host to other events such as the rock wall provided by the Army and Extreme Air, a skydiving simulator. There will also be pick-up games of sand beach volleyball being played along with a chance to win a brand new Toyota Scion, provided by the Army, Fletcher Toyota, Thunder Country and The Rocket.

Sodexho will supply the food for the event. Maloukis said the food supplied will be mostly hors d’oeuvres.

“We are having the number one rolled appetizer in the nation,” Maloukis said.

She was referring to the little tornadoes that will be served. There will also be egg rolls and other finger foods available.

The event will take place from 7 to 11 p.m. on May 10 and will be on the residence halls side of campus.

Maloukis said she is expecting some turnout from the public so students should bring their student IDs so they can try out the Extreme Air simulator and receive free T-shirts.

For more information, contact Maloukis in the student activities office in the Billingsly Student Center Room 222.