“Have no fear,” said Allison Goodwin, ’04, co-director of music for FUSA. “We are on it.”
However, fear can be seen in the eyes of some students on campus in relation to the band who will invade Fairfield in the spring.
“Time is running out,” said Kathryn Herlihy, ’05, “and I am concerned that they may not find a band at all.”
The bid that FUSA entered for Guster two weeks ago was rejected last Friday, five days before a decision was said to be made. That came even though FUSA bid $5,000 over the minimum bid for the band.
“The bid for Guster was denied for no reason,” said Karen Donoghue, ’03, FUSA president. “They just said no.”
Ideas for the concert are beginning to change, according to Donoghue.
As of last week, the date for the show had been set as being April 5th and was planning on being incorporated with the 15th annual Hunger Cleanup. FUSA is now looking at the option of changing the concert to a later date, as time is ticking away.
The idea of O.A.R. returning to campus has also been thrown out.
“Because that band has already been to campus within just over a year, we are not sure if students would pay to see them because of the fact that they are charging $25,000 to come, which would require us to charge students for tickets,” Donoghue added. O.A.R. charged just $5,000 last year and played a free concert in the quad.
Students confirm Donoghue’s assumption. “I don’t think I would see them again if they decided to come back,” said Greg Hill, ’05. “I would want to see something new. O.A.R. just seems like a fall back band.”
The next step FUSA is taking in its search for an act involves a list of 15 bands, ranked in order of preference. Atop that list is the band Simple Plan. However, the plan to get them is not simple at all.
“Simple Plan’s Web site is looking for dates to play before they go on tour with Avril Lavigne this summer,” said Donoghue. “But we cannot just call them up and book a date. We have to go through our agent, Clear Channel, in order to get them to come.”
If everything goes well, FUSA will put a bid in for the band. They are generally a cheaper band in relation to other bands on the list of 15.
Other bands on the list include, and in order of preference, Howie Day and Sum-41. Howie Day would cost FUSA between $10-15,000 and would be free for students.
Sum-41 does not have any dates free for weekends anymore so they are only allotted to play on a weekday night. If they book Sum-41, the date would have to definitely be changed.
“It doesn’t matter what day of the week the concert is on,” said Hill. “It just matters whether or not a good band is booked.”
Others disagreed. “I would much rather see a concert on the weekend because I would think that more students would come and drinking is always a factor,” said Herlihy.
Donoghue also stated that they are now looking into having the concert outside, depending on how difficult it is to book Alumni Hall for a concert.
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