The fourth annual Virgin College Mega Tour (VCMT) will feature rapper Talib Kweli as the headliner, with support from pop-punk band Sugarcult and former Something Corporate guitarist William Tell. The trek begins April 7 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, and wraps May 5 at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I.
Twelve of the tour's 18 dates were scheduled at press time: San Diego's 4th & B theater (April 8), Los Angeles' House of Blues (April 9), the University of Arizona (April 10), Utah Valley State College (April 12), University of Maryland (April 19), Massachusetts' Stone Hill College (April 20), New York's Mount Saint Vincent University (April 25), University of West Virginia (April 27), and New York's University of Rochester (May 4) will all host concerts.
This year's VCMT is presented by Stride Gum, and additional sponsors include Major League Baseball Properties and Virgin Megastores. The tour will again feature the VCMT Daytime Village on college campuses that will include videogame competitions, a "new artists stage" sponsored by CMJ, artist meet-and-greets, batting cages, dodgeball tournaments and contest giveaways.
The on-campus villages will be free to students and open between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Concert doors will open between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets will cost up to $20 in some markets and will be given away for free in others. "It's really up to the school," Marty Berman, CEO of Integrate Marketing, which is producing this year's jaunt, tells Billboard.com.
Last year's VCMT featured Yellowcard in the headline spot, with support from Mae and Over It. Past tours have featured such acts as Cake, Gomez, Michelle Branch, Gavin DeGraw and Rooney.
This year's edition marks VCMT's first hip-hop headliner. "We've always wanted to mix it from a genre standpoint," Berman explains. "For Virgin (Megastores), it's important because they sell different varieties of music. They don't want to be locked into any particular genre."
Twelve of the tour's 18 dates were scheduled at press time: San Diego's 4th & B theater (April 8), Los Angeles' House of Blues (April 9), the University of Arizona (April 10), Utah Valley State College (April 12), University of Maryland (April 19), Massachusetts' Stone Hill College (April 20), New York's Mount Saint Vincent University (April 25), University of West Virginia (April 27), and New York's University of Rochester (May 4) will all host concerts.
This year's VCMT is presented by Stride Gum, and additional sponsors include Major League Baseball Properties and Virgin Megastores. The tour will again feature the VCMT Daytime Village on college campuses that will include videogame competitions, a "new artists stage" sponsored by CMJ, artist meet-and-greets, batting cages, dodgeball tournaments and contest giveaways.
The on-campus villages will be free to students and open between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Concert doors will open between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets will cost up to $20 in some markets and will be given away for free in others. "It's really up to the school," Marty Berman, CEO of Integrate Marketing, which is producing this year's jaunt, tells Billboard.com.
Last year's VCMT featured Yellowcard in the headline spot, with support from Mae and Over It. Past tours have featured such acts as Cake, Gomez, Michelle Branch, Gavin DeGraw and Rooney.
This year's edition marks VCMT's first hip-hop headliner. "We've always wanted to mix it from a genre standpoint," Berman explains. "For Virgin (Megastores), it's important because they sell different varieties of music. They don't want to be locked into any particular genre."
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