This year’s Juice Jam concert at Syracuse University has sold about 800 more tickets than last year’s.

The ticket capacity for last year’s University Union concert — featuring Lupe Fiasco, Super Mash Bros. and Passion Pit — was 5,000. The 2010 concert was the first to sell out in Juice Jam’s seven-year history. Tickets sold out on the Wednesday night before last year’s concert.

This year’s Juice Jam brings co-headliners Swedish house-electronic artist Avicii and American rapper B.o.B. Chiddy Bang, an electro hip-hop duo from Philadelphia, will open the show.

Ticket sales for Juice Jam will be sold throughout the rest of this week and into the weekend at the Schine Student Center box office and online, said Rob Dekker, UU president.

This year, in addition to making the concert a benefit event, the ticket capacity was raised to 8,500, Dekker said. The start time of the concert was also moved later to 4 p.m. UU plans to enhance the show by using extra production elements and incorporating stronger lighting this year.

‘We increased the capacity this year with the intention of not selling out,’ he said. ‘Juice Jam is not about just selling tickets, it’s about student involvement.’

To allow for the expanded ticket sales, the layout of the area used at Skytop Field on South Campus was reconfigured. Additional staff and security have also been scheduled for the event, he said.

When UU officials realized the concert would fall on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and didn’t have any other options for the date of the concert, they decided to turn the event into a benefit concert to commemorate the losses.

UU has been conducting a food drive this week as well, allowing students to donate canned goods in exchange for a Juice Jam T-shirt. Dekker said they have already collected around 1,000 goods and are hoping to collect a lot more during the actual event.

‘We’ve seen a decent amount of student involvement already,’ he said.

SU has partnered with Better Together, a nationwide initiative that encourages students to strengthen interfaith and multicultural bonds in the United States to improve their communities. A portion of the ticket sales from the event will go toward famine relief in the Horn of Africa through the United Nations’ World Food Programme.

Tickets are available for $10 to all faculty, staff and students at SU and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the Schine Student Center box office for the rest of the week or on its website. Students who attend nearby universities can also purchase tickets for $20 with valid IDs.

medelane@syr.edu

Published on September 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani