Racer X will perform at Ivies this year after a one-year hiatus, band member and Associate Professor of English Aaron Kitch announced on Tuesday night. The performance will take place on April 24.
Fronted by Kitch and Associate Professor of Music Vineet Shende, the ’80s cover band was unable to perform at Ivies last year because both Kitch and Shende were on sabbatical.
Instead, 3LAU—the stage name of DJ and producer Justin Blau—performed on Thursday night.
“This year, Racer X will replace 3LAU and there will be two acts on Saturday,” said David Vazquez ’14, a Bowdoin Student Government representative on the Entertainment Board (E-Board).
“It seemed to be what people wanted,” said Vasquez, referring to the surveys sent out earlier in the school year.
Racer X has been very popular with students in past years, which influenced the E-Board’s decision to try and bring them back for a performance this year, according to Vasquez.
“Everyone loves having that ’80s party on Thursday night, and especially seniors and juniors who have seen [Racer X] before wanted to be able to experience that again,” said Vasquez.
According to Kitch, Racer X was first approached in December and the contract was finalized in March.
Shende first auditioned for the band in 2003 after seeing a newspaper ad from bassist Pat Cyr and drummer Dave Morrill. Kitch soon joined, and the rest is history.
Kitch says they have some new songs prepared, but declined to share their names, instead saying that they will debut them during Ivies.
Correction, April 4, 2014: The print version of this article mistakenly identified David Vasquez '14 as E-Board president. It has been corrected to show that he is a BSG representative on the E-Board.