It seems that every year, Binghamton University’s Homecoming weekend has been geared toward the returning alumni rather than the current students. However, that’s all about to change. This year marks the first ever Homecoming Concert at BU, giving students a little something extra to look forward to.

The Student Association Programming Board reeled in Pretty Lights, Wale and Big Gigantic to perform Thursday, Sept. 22. SAPB decided a concert was just the way to get the proper student turnout and get people pumped for the event.

“It’s the University’s 65th anniversary,” said Catherine Cornell, the Student Association vice president of programming. “We wanted something fun and exciting because students usually find Homecoming lame so nobody comes out.”

Pretty Lights is an electronic music artist, Derek Smith, who uses digital sampling, including many different genres of music, for his musical creations. SAPB chose Pretty Lights based on the results from its fall concert survey sent out to BU students over the summer. They found that dubstep and electronic artists were in high demand, and it conveniently worked out that Pretty Lights was on tour.

“Time-wise it worked out great to have Pretty Lights, but they’re also stunning live,” Cornell said. “Having the other groups is just icing on the cake.”

Wale is a rapper from Washington, D.C., whose first album, “Attention Deficit,” hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums. Big Gigantic is made up by the electronic duo Dominic Lalli and Jeremy Salkin. They blend jazz with dance beats to create killer music.

To create the spectacular show that Pretty Lights is known for, Smith uses over $100,000 worth of lights and haze during the shows. Because the equipment is quite extensive and expensive, Pretty Lights usually do not play at colleges. According to Cornell, the band only agreed to come here because Smith felt Binghamton University had the capability to handle the equipment and help the show run smoothly. This will be the first time Pretty Lights performs at a university, and Cornell promises a great show.

The concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22 in the Events Center, and doors open at 6 p.m.

Pre-sale tickets will be available on Aug. 31 outside the New University Union for $20. The first 1,000 students to purchase tickets will receive them for the pre-sale price, regardless of whether they buy tickets at the pre-sale or online.

All other students can purchase tickets starting Sept. 1 at www.sapb.binghamtonsa.org for $23. Tickets for the general public cost $35 and will be available on the same website on Sept. 1.