Courtesy | Mat Kearney

Biola’s annual fall concert is scheduled to take place this Friday, Oct. 26, on Metzger Lawn with well-known artist Mat Kearney as the headliner. Metzger Lawn will open at 7 p.m. and the opening act, Andrew Belle, will go on at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets sell fast

“As of October 16, we had sold 600 presale tickets,” said Lauren Bailey, Associated Students music and arts coordinator. “I am hoping we will sell at least 1,000 … Most college students tend to wait to buy them at the door so we expect to sell a lot then.”

Unlike the Relient K concert that was held at Biola last spring, the fall concert will be private and only open to Biola students, faculty and alumni.

“I wish it was public but it makes sense that it’s only for Biola,” Bailey said. “Mat has been playing in sold-out stadiums and tickets for those shows were a lot of money.”

At the end of last month, Kearney played at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles with Train and Andy Grammer.

According to Bailey, the concert was originally scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. because it was going to have two openers.

“[Kearney’s] people requested that the concert only have one opener because the other one was a student,” Bailey said. “It wasn’t about their talent level. They just wanted someone with a little more touring experience.”

Kearney’s agency agreed to have Belle as the opening act because of his experience, according to Bailey. Belle’s music has been featured on popular shows such as “Pretty Little Liars” and “One Tree Hill.”

Venue changes

Although the concert was originally to be held in Chase Gymnasium, Event Services would not have had enough time to set up the stage in the Gym that day due to a sporting event. The stage will be on Metzger Lawn, facing Calvary Chapel and Event Services will begin setting up the stage for the concert on Monday, according to Bailey.