OK Go is touring internationally in support of their upcoming album, "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky," to be released Jan. 12 on Capitol Records. Produced by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT), the record is the long-awaited followup to the acclaimed "Oh No" (2005), which included the song that became the 2007 Grammy Award-winning video hit, "Here It Goes Again." So well known that it was even parodied on "The Simpsons," the viral music video has been viewed more than 48 million times at YouTube, which OK Go helped transform into a household name.

"OK Go is the polymath band who -- with only five bucks and a camcorder -- did what none of the giant record labels could, inventing a new way for a band to connect with fans and changing the way people think about music and the Internet," wrote Ira Glass, host of Public Radio International's "This American Life."

"A few years ago, OK Go performed at some live shows our radio program was doing onstage across the country," Glass wrote. "They were like human catnip. We had huge crowds and people of every age -- high school sophomores to senior citizens -- just loved them. The band simply overwhelmed the audience with this exuberant buzz of fun and happiness and youth and rock 'n' roll. ... Thanks to the videos, that exuberant buzz has spilled across the globe. But don't let that distract you, the best part of OK Go is still the music."

"Of the Blue Colour of the Sky" gets its title from a 19th-century book promoting the erroneous theory that blue light has healing power. A dance record with songs largely about hope in the face of hopeless situations, "it embodies contradiction in a way I feel connected to," says lead singer and guitarist Damian Kulash. "It's both the saddest and the most hopeful music we've made, and both the danciest and most thoughtful."

"It's not so much that we headed in a new direction," Kulash says. "I think we've just expended the guitar-rock ideas from our teens and we're starting to get at more root-level influences. There's a lot of 'Purple Rain' on this record -- an album I haven't stopped listening to since I got it when I was eleven."

The year Kulash got Prince's iconic recording was the same year he met Tim Nordwind (bass) at summer camp. They formed a band called The Greased Ferrets and used folding chairs as drums. They met Dan Konopka (drums) in college, and finally formed the band OK Go in 1999. Andy Ross (guitar, keyboards) joined them in 2005.

OK Go is also known for its activism. In March 2008 Kulash was invited to be the lead witness before the House Judiciary Committee's Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws Subcommittee. He testified in support of Internet neutrality, and wrote an op-ed for
The New York Times. He and bandmate Andy Ross met with Congressional leaders and then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama about the specter of access-limiting online practices, leading to the band appearing in ads supporting Obama. OK Go also took time from their non-stop touring regimen -- 31 consecutive months over five continents -- to raise money in support of New Orleans' music culture in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The band's efforts with trombone band Bonerama, including the 2008 EP "You're Not Alone," raised more than half of the money for soul legend Al "Carnival Time" Johnson's new home in New Orleans.

OK Go Ticket Information

General admission tickets are $15 ($10 with a UW-Eau Claire student ID card) at the Service Center in the east lobby of Davies Center. Public ticket sales begin Oct. 5, with a special advance sale Oct. 1-4 for UW-Eau Claire students only. The Service Center is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Patrons may also charge their tickets to MasterCard or Visa when they order by phone. Call 715-836-3727 or, outside the immediate Eau Claire area, call toll-free 800-949-UWEC. A $3 handling fee will be added to all telephone charge orders.

The concert is sponsored by the University Activities Commission of the UW-Eau Claire Student Senate.