The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: Metro

Media Credit: Steve Helber / The Associated Press John Mayer gave a performance at the V. Tech concert.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - An enthusiastic crowd of Virginia Tech students, faculty and out-of-towners cheered, waved their arms and sang along Thursday night at a concert conceived by rocker Dave Matthews in the days after the mass shootings on campus.

Fans, many clad in the school colors of maroon and orange, filled most of the 50,000 available seats and intermittently yelled "Let's go, Hokies" between acts.

"My heart is with you," said hip-hop artist Nas, wearing a maroon T-shirt that said "We are Virginia Tech" on the back. "I am honored to come out here and rap with y'all."

The crowd was on its feet for most of his 20-minute performance.

"It's so great to come home to see Virginia Tech," said country singer Phil Vassar, a Lynchburg native who opened the show.

Matthews was the headliner, and pop guitarist John Mayer preceded him.

"I think it's very admirable of them," said Brittney Trimmer, a junior from Richmond. "It shows somebody's got a heart."

Trimmer was friends with Caitlin Hammaren, one of 32 people killed by a student gunman who also took his own life April 16. She is also friends with Colin Goddard, who was among the two dozen injured.

"We're moving on," she said. "Whether we had this or not, we'd still be moving on."

Matthews proposed the concert soon after Seung-Hui Cho staged the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, university spokeswoman Cecelia Hovis said. Matthews, who got his start playing fraternity parties at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, chose the lineup, Hovis said.

"It was designed to represent the diversity of the student body at Virginia Tech," she said.

Families of those killed were invited and had seats in a section with students injured in the shooting spree, Hovis said.

"I think anything that gets people's minds off heavier issues is a good thing," said Sherri Cook, a faculty member in an engineering department that lost two professors and eight students. "There's been a general air of excitement all day."

The performers were donating their time, and each student, faculty and staff member was offered a free ticket to the concert at Lane Stadium. Those who got free tickets had the option to buy one as well, and 5,000 seats were offered to the public.

Greg Packer, 43, of Huntington, N.Y., bought a ticket on the Web site Craigslist and rode a bus overnight to attend the concert.

"I just wanted to show my support and express my sympathies," said Packer, who wore a commemorative T-shirt.

Hovis said the ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, and T-shirt sales would help cover Tech's expenses of about $1 million to put on the concert.

Hours before the show, a prominent personal injury lawyer in Washington said his firm had been hired to represent the families of seven shooting victims. Peter Grenier said he expects three or four more families will retain the firm. No lawsuits have been filed.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell, who would represent the state in any lawsuits stemming from the shootings, had no comment, spokesman Tucker Martin said.

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