95.5 The Vibe: taking music to the masses
Posted by The Skyliner on April 22nd, 2009James Turner
Staff Writer
Last week students dropped in to Einstein Bros. Bagel Shop to show their support of WNGR 95.5 The Vibe as they were wrapping up their first spring tour. During the event, attendees were able to enjoy food, video games and Christian music. The spring tour also made its way to Furman and Moes. The Vibe hopes to continue the tradition of the spring tour in the years to come. (Photo by Chris Timmons / The Skyliner)
Whether you like country, soul or rock and roll, any kind of music you can possibly imagine is readily available. All you have to do is turn a couple of knobs or push a button or two and your favorite station is pumping noisily through the speakers or flowing softly and gently through the room.
It is no wonder music is such a phenomenon in today’s society, and the North Greenville University subculture is no exception. NGU’s own radio station competes every day with other Christian radio stations. Its listener base is primarily composed of North Greenville Students, but lately 95.5 The Vibe has been reaching out to the local community.
The station took its first spring tour last week. April 8 found them at the Hello Love Tour with Chris Tomlin in Furman University’s Timmons Arena. On April 13 The Vibe was a little closer to home at Einstein’s Bagel Shop from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and finally on April 14 they traveled to Moe’s in Greer and stayed from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
During the second night of their tour, The Vibe was set up in a tent outside Einstein’s Bagels where you could pick up free food and listen to the music or sign up to win tickets to the Skillet concert while you eat it. Anyone who walked inside was handed a free CD of their choice and offered the chance by station manager David Watkins, who manned the game table, to play Madden NFL 09 and other games against each other. Winners could pick any 15 CDs they wanted and take them home.
“CDs we have.” Watkins replied when asked what fans had to choose from, “We’ve got Rebecca Saint James, Julian Drive—CD and DVD—Jimmy Needham, Chris Sligh, Rush of Fools and a whole lot more.”
The Christian rock culture is exciting and passionate for some.
“I had a great time,” Ashley Renkovish said after she won her fifteen CDs playing a game on the Xbox she could not identify. “Probably the best ones
I got were John Foreman, Disciple, Lincoln Brewster and Sevenglory.”
Other students, however, such as Ashley Renkovish’s older brother Adam, a senior at NGU who came along to see what was happening, seemed less than enthusiastic. “I don’t listen to The Vibe,” the older Renkovish said. “They don’t cater to me or anyone else who likes other styles of music. It doesn’t look like their tour was very well publicized either. The only people who are here are the people in the mass comm department.”
The Vibe pulled out all the stops on their final trip to Moe’s in Greer. Entertainment, food and lots of uplifting, Christian music was given away. Now that the tour is over and life is returning to some degree of normality, the staff of 95.5 The Vibe is looking forward to April 18 when they will be airing live interviews from GMA week in Nashville.
Tags: Spring 2009, Vol. 108 - Issue 10