Robin Hood hosts first Hoodstock music festival

Joey Pompignano

The Robin Hood is hosting its first annual Hoodstock music festival Saturday. Doors open at 4 p.m., with the first band kicking off at 5 p.m. and the last act going well into the morning hours after the bar closes. Tickets are $5 for individuals 21 and over, and $7 for others.

The Woodstock-inspired event incorporates varieties of urban music in the form of jazz, reggae, hip-hop and R&B to bring local groups together.

Jessi Arnold, an event coordinator for GTB Entertainment, co-manages the band Tropidelic. Arnold, who is in charge of publicity for Hoodstock, said a second stage was built for the more than 20 bands that are scheduled to perform.

“We’re expecting, we hope, 600 (people) throughout the whole day,” she said. “We’re hoping for a ginormous turnout.”

Through promoting and advertising on Facebook and MySpace, she said many of the opening bands should bring 30-50 people apiece, but expects groups with a larger fan base like Winslow and Tropidelic to draw a few hundred people later in the evening.

Arnold described Tropidelic’s “party band” style as similar to mainstream bands like Sublime and 311.

“They’ve been gone for a little bit, but they’re back in action,” she said. “It’ll be their first time back in Kent since they got a whole new crew.”

Though many fans anticipate Tropidelic’s return to the music scene, others will support Dibz, Words First, and Microphonx along with many more artists prepared to make Hoodstock a memorable experience.

“What better than the Robin Hood for a college event?”

-Joey Pompignano