Though he may not be Harry Potter, Edward Cullen sure doesn't suck.
The blood-thirsty main character from Stephenie Meyer's book series, Twilight, is riding on the heels of the Potter chronicles to become the tween scene's newest cultural phenomenon, and Duke a capella group Lady Blue is riding along with him at G-Loft Friday night.
The popular book series is hitting the silver screen with a highly anticipated adaptation in theaters a week from Friday. The movie soundtrack, however, is already popular, debuting at the top spot on Billboard album sales charts this week. Lady Blue is seizing the opportunity to host a Twilight original soundtrack listening party in conjunction with the release of their own CD, Off the Record.
Sophomore Jessie Mark, the group's assistant music director, planned the event using connections she made with Atlantic Records this summer while working in the company's the artist development division.
Her boss proposed the idea of throwing a Twilight music promotion party, she said, but Mark felt it would be more successful as a combined event with her a cappella group, making it a change from the usual Friday night out at Shooters.
"Duke has a great music scene, but I wouldn't say there are a lot of artsy things like listening parties," Mark said. "The most important thing is that [the event is] not an alternative to the Duke party scene, but it's an alternative to the themes that people have every week."
The event, co-hosted with Atlantic is a twist on the typical functions held at G-Loft. In addition to a full listening of the soundtrack, which features unreleased songs from Paramore and Mute Math, Stella by Starlight's Nate Fowler, Trinity '08, will DJ for the rest of the evening.
Attendees can expect less mainstream artists and a departure from what Fowler calls "sh-y Top 40 music." He is excited to host the event because it gives him an opportunity to play good music many attendees will not have heard, Fowler said.
Though Twilight is popular among teenagers, students on campus may be less familiar with the series. Senior Andrew Hsiao heard about the party through friends in Lady Blue, but said he doesn't know much about the emerging trend.
"I'm mostly going for Lady Blue," Hsiao said. "I'm expecting to get interested in the book series or movie depending on how well they publicize it at the event to spark some interest."
Atlantic is providing free movie paraphernalia, including posters, stickers and character trading cards, and copies of the soundtrack will be raffled off. Small Town Records and Lady Blue will also table and sell merchandise.
Whether it's the books or the babes, the Twilight event is hoping to draw an eclectic crowd, Mark said.
"This is something fresh," she said. "Plus, it's fun because we're in Durham [and] something big like Twilight wants to give me stuff to give out."
Lady Blue and Atlantic Records Present: Twilight Original Soundtrack begins at 10 p.m. Friday at G-Loft, 737 Ninth St. in Durham. Cover is $5.
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