Emo stalwart group Straylight Run will open its spring 2007 tour tonight at the Schine Underground as part of University Union’s Bandersnatch Concert series.

Kelly Bertog, president of Bandersnatch, said Straylight seems to have a pretty good following on campus, one which should make for a good show.

‘The opportunity came up, and we jumped on it,’ Bertog said.

Straylight Run was formed in 2003 by former Taking Back Sunday members, John Nolan and Shaun Cooper. Nolan, half of the songwriting team behind TBS’ debut album, ‘Tell All Your Friends,’ filled out his new band’s roster with his sister Michelle and Will Noon, drummer for Breaking Pangaea (Pangaea’s lead singer Fred Mascherino later replaced Nolan in TBS).

Straylight’s self-titled debut was released in the fall of 2004, opting for a more piano-based, melodic approach in the place of TBS’ emotional attack. The next fall, the band released a six-song EP, ‘Prepare to be Wrong.’

Though he shied away from the ’emo’ label, Bertog said the group’s piano and acoustic guitar-based songs have a wide appeal. The band’s past involvement in Taking Back Sunday and the Long Island music scene was something of interest as well.

Though no longer with original label, Victory Records, the tour will be in support of Straylight’s yet to be released second LP.

Local acoustic rock group, The February, made up of five Syracuse University students, will open the show. The band’s debut self-titled album is also being released today on Marshall Street Records. The label is run by SU students in the music industry program.

Bertog said a few tickets are still available for those who haven’t picked one up yet. They are $5 for students and $10 for those without SU I.D., and can be purchased at the Schine Box Office.

If you go

What: Straylight Run

When: Tonight, 8 p.m.

Where: Schine Underground

How much: $5 for students; $10 for general public

Published on March 5, 2007 at 12:00 pm