MGMT, Surfer Blood, Jimmy Eat World to Play Free Shows at U.S. Open of Surfing

Tens of thousands of surfers, spectators and music fans ("surf and turfs?") will get treated to free concerts by MGMT, Jimmy Eat World, Surfer Blood (whose name nobody is hoping will become ironic), the Sounds and Dead Country at the 2011 Nike U.S. Open of Surfing this summer. The action sporting event will take place July 30 to August 7 in Huntington Beach, Calif., with the free, afternoon concerts scheduled for three consecutive days beginning August 4. And, yes, the concerts will be held right on the beach.

"We're pretty excited to come to Huntington Beach for the U.S. Open of Surfing," MGMT's Andrew VanWyngarden admits to Spinner. "Our advice to everyone: Drop out with MGMT, drop by for MGMT, but just don't drop in on MGMT." And while neither VanWyngarden nor his bandmate Ben Goldwasser will compete in the surf contest, the pair have become surfing enthusiasts since moving to Malibu to escape (or, perhaps, bask in) the phenomenal breakout success of their debut album, 2008's 'Oracular Spectacular.' The artwork for their follow-up album, 2010's 'Congratulations,' even features an illustrated surfer on the cover.

So, much like everyone else in gen. pop., we expect MGMT will take in some of the surfing events from the shore. The concerts are hardly the main focus of the overall event, being that the surfing competition is the largest professional surfing competition of its kind, with $460,000 at stake for the competitors. And then, on the turf side -- and along a designated 14-acre stretch of land, which borders the Huntington Beach Pier -- skateboard, BMX bicycle and even a high-school fashion competition will all go down.

Landlocked fans can click on to the live-stream of all the events at the official U.S. Open of Surfing website. To the actual concertgoers: bring your, um... sandals, blankets and sunscreen.

Watch Spinner's Exclusive Interview With MGMT From Lollapalooza 2010


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