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SGA: No definite word on fall concert
Xavier has company with neighbors in the region
Emily Hoferer
Managing Editor
Graphic by John LaFollette
Against a backdrop of proven headliners, it is still unclear who, if anyone, will perform at Xavier this fall. Past acts include, clockwise from top left, Bob Dylan (Nov., 2001), O.A.R. (Oct., 2003), Talib Kweli (Oct., 2004), Ben Folds (Feb., 2005), Jason Mraz (Oct., 2005), Guster (April, 2006) and Trey Anastasio (Oct., 2006).
For a third straight semester, there are no concrete plans for a Student Activities Council-sponsored concert on Xavier’s campus, according to a statement by SGA Administrative Vice President Josh Badall and SAC Special Events Chair Jessica Kelly.
“There are several SACers who are continuously working on booking a concert for the 2008-09 school year,” said Badall and Kelly. “Currently nothing is definitive and therefore we do not want to relay false information to the students.”
This news announcement comes on the heels of a concert-less 2007-08 school year.
Last year, SAC decided to roll over its budget for fall and spring concerts to this school year, in the hopes of booking a sizeable act.
SAC books their concerts through a middle agent, who acts on the part of SAC when negotiating with the agents of artists.
The student governments of other universities in the region book concerts in a similar way.
While the University of Dayton does not host a large concert, claiming a lack of a proper facility, an amphitheater in their student village hosts smaller acts for a small price.
They also have an event called “Barn Jam,” an outdoor event at a professor’s house where local acts play and students camp at the site; like Woodstock, only at Dayton.
This year, UD is hoping to team up with the National College Album Tour, which hosts acts like Akon and O.A.R. They help universities book big acts for a cheaper price and promote sustainability issues.
Similarly, at Purdue the middle agent works directly with a student who is
the concert chair for the big concert they host every year in the spring.
In the past, Purdue has hosted acts such as the Roots, Switchfoot and Hoobastank.
They have not yet booked their spring concert, which is free for students.
Two or three other acts are brought to the university through their Convocation Department, according to Mallory Shaus, who is on Purdue’s student government.
Those acts are usually not free and not affiliated with student government.
At Creighton, they save their big act for the fall and smaller acts for the spring.
Like Xavier, Creighton has not finalized their act for the fall, but in the past they have brought Jimmy Eat World and Jurassic 5.
This concert, and the smaller one in the spring, which featured The Spill Canvas last year, are also free to students.
Creighton uses surveys to find out what genre of music students like, according to Jenna Vercillo, the vice president of student programming for Creighton’s student union.
Another university that has begun using surveys is Butler University.
“We have started doing surveys in order to evaluate the specific music tastes of the students,” said Alisha Cahue, who serves on the program board for Butler’s SGA. “We take those results into account as much as we can, but we have to go with whatever acts we feel would appeal to the most students...”
Butler brings two big acts a year.
Past artists have included OK Go, Common, Sister Hazel, Ben Folds, The Fray and O.A.R. Butler has also not finalized its concert for the fall semester.
SGA did not say when they would announce a decision on this fall’s concert.