Pop-punk rockers American Hi-Fi will hit eleven college campuses as part of the 2001 MTV Campus Invasion Tour. Members of the band may have trouble recalling some of their own wild college memories, but they'll be helping out hordes of coeds along the East Coast to formulate some of their own when the band shares the stage with fellow Island recording artists Saliva and Sum-41 beginning March 30th at Adelphi University in upstate New York.

Since the release of their 2001 self-titled debut, American Hi-Fi have been busy, just finishing touring with Eve 6 and playing gigs with SR-71 before embarking out on their current road trip with Our Lady Peace. "We love making records, but what we really all love is just rockin' every night for a room full of kids," says guitarist/vocalist Stacy Jones.

The trek will include a show at Wentworth College in Boston, where Jones' alma mater, the Berklee College of Music, is located. "We're looking forward to playing there," he enthuses.

For Jones, playing on the tour is an exciting step for the band, especially since the ex-Letters to Cleo/ Veruca Salt drummer admits to being weaned on MTV. "I remember seeing Judas Priest on there and busting out my tennis racket, just air-guitaring in front of the TV," says Jones, who also fondly remembers air-drumming to Motley Crue videos.

The MTV tour is a step up from Jones' Letters to Cleo jaunts, when he and his mates endured gigs at campus pizza shops where the crowd would watch Melrose Place in between songs, and he is pumped up for the bigger stages. "I know that Saliva and Sum-41 are both really great live bands," he says, "and we're not these gloom-n-doom guys onstage. We're having fun up there, and I think people can relate to that."

The 2001 MTV Campus Invasion Tour dates:

3/30: Garden City, NY, Adelphi University
3/31: Boston, Wentworth College
4/1: Philadelphia, Temple University
4/5: Mansfield, PA, Mansfield University
4/7: Ithaca, NY, Ithaca College
4/8: Shippensburg, PA, Shippensburg University
4/9: Camden, NJ, Rutgers
4/11: Alfred, NY, Alfred State College
4/12: Delhi, NY, Suny-Delhi
4/16: Waltham, MA, George Mason University
4/18: Canton, NY, Suny - Canton

KERRY SMITH
(March 30, 2001)