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This year’s FredFest announcement took place March 3 with a live unveiling—a first for the Fredonia campus.

Students tuned into Fredonia Radio System’s WCVF-FM (88.9), and WDVL-FM (89.5), while others attended a Spectrum screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 to join in the anticipation.

Students were excited to discover that the nationally acclaimed band, Jack’s Mannequin, would headline the 31st annual FredFest on Saturday, April 30.

Jack's Mannequin website>>

Students working for the student-run Spectrum Entertainment Board worked throughout the semester polling students’ wishes, based on favorite genres and bands. They then compiled a list of possible artists based on this information.

“The students’ opinions are the most important input we have when making this decision, and we take every comment into account when figuring out what bands to look into,” said Rachel Foltz, this year’s FredFest chair.

“We were really excited to have our first live announcement of the FredFest headliner,” added Erin Mroczka, Spectrum’s advisor and the assistant director of Campus Life. “We were very pleased with the students’ reaction to the announcement.”

This year’s event will once again take place in the Steele Hall Field House, beginning at 3 p.m. The hugely popular Dinosaur BBQ will return as well to cater the event, along with other food and entertainment vendors.

Jack’s Mannequin formed in the summer of the 2004 in Orange County, when Andrew McMahon, front man from the pop-punk band Something Corporate, joined together with Bobby “Raw” Anderson (Guitar and Back-Up Vocals), Jay McMillian (Drums), and Jonathan “Dr. J” Sullivan (Bass/Cello and Back-Up Voacls) and created their first album, “Everything in Transit.”

Only a year later, McMahon, 22 at the time, was diagnosed with leukemia. He was forced to stop music-related activities and immediately started chemotherapy.

Throughout his battle with cancer he also fought pneumonia that almost killed him. After receiving a stem-cell transplant from his sister, he was able to make a full-recovery. During his illness, he chronicled his journey on Dear Jack, an unrefined documentary McMahon created about trying to release an album while battling cancer. The album debuted at No. 37 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart and continued to have a warm reception from fans and critics alike.

“I want to be able to relate to people when I write songs,” McMahon says. “Part of what’s driven me to make music is this idea of connection; taking my experiences and writing about them honestly, but in such a way that someone in a completely different situation can still relate to them. I wanted to make a record that wasn’t exactly about what I had seen, but what I had felt along the way.”

The band released its second album, “The Glass Passenger,” in 2008. After this release, Jack’s Mannequin embarked on numerous tours and summer festivals, including Summerfest, Lollapolloza, Coachella and Bamboozle. The band also participated in the charity CD, “Instant Karma: the Campaign to Save Darfur,” doing a cover of John Lennon’s, “God.” Jack’s Mannequin’s “Tour for the Cure” brought the band to 22 cities and raised more than $125,000 to benefit the Dear Jack Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by McMahon to fund cancer research.