Like a couple of kids arguing in a sandbox, Sacred Heart and Fairfield University attempt to one up each other every year over their much-anticipated Spring Concerts.
While FUSA did impress both Fairfield and Sacred Heart students this year by booking superstar Ludacris , it seems Sacred Heart won the battle once again, snagging both Ne-Yo and T-Pain to co-headline the Spring Concert, which will take place this Friday at the Pitt Center.
This trend is not something that is unfamiliar to students. Last year, after FUSA booked the popular O.A.R. to perform Alumni Hall, Sacred Heart responded by hosting the Goo Goo Dolls , Augustana and Hinder to perform at the spring concert.
“I wouldn’t say that Sacred Heart is one step ahead of Fairfield University in terms of concerts,” said Vanessa Jackson ’08, director of concerts.
“Sacred Heart has different resources than we do, such as a larger budget and a better venue that allows them to get the acts that they do. Regardless, I’m very proud of this year’s Ludacris concert.”
The main attraction for Sacred Heart’s 2008 Spring Concert is R’B sensation Ne-Yo, who is recognized as one of the most talented songwriters and most popular R’B acts in music today.
Ne-Yo is best known for his No. 1 hits “So Sick,” “Sexy Love” and “Because of You.”
But as Sacred Heart quickly realized, two great acts are better than one.
Accompanying Ne-Yo will be break-out hip-hop star T-Pain. Best known for his singles “Bartender” and “Buy U A Drank,” T-Pain is a rising act that is sure to heat up the crowd Friday night.
Fairfield students are starting to notice that the University is losing the battle of the concerts with its rival school.
What makes a big difference for Fairfield is that it has to host the concert Alumni Hall. Aside from having poor acoustics, Alumni Hall has a much lower capacity (2,000 people) compared to Sacred Heart’s Pitt Center (5,000). This means that Sacred Heart is able to get more money from ticket sales, allowing for their larger budget.
“Sacred Heart has a better budget and it utilizes it to bring in acts that are popular currently,” said Nicole Sweeney ’10.
While Ludacris is a big name, Sweeney said it is more important to have an artist that is current.
“To me, Ludacris was a big act in high school, but he isn’t someone I would want to spend money on to see now,” said Sweeney. “I would pay money, though, to see Ne-Yo and T-Pain.”
Both Ne-Yo and T-Pain are some of the hottest acts around and while Ludacris may be a well-known name among most college students, it would be a rare occurrence to see a Ludacris song ranked higher than Ne-Yo on the Top 40 charts.
Big-name acts are not the only thing Sacred Heart offers its students. The school also offers lower ticket prices and a better facility.
If you were not a Fairfield student or if you didn’t buy your ticket in time for the student discount, Ludacris tickets cost $40, and that’s not including the absurd surcharges added by Ticketmaster. With all the surprise fees, a Ludacris ticket came out to almost $55 for many, certainly a high price to watch an outdated rapper perform for 45 minutes.
Sacred Heart was one step ahead, and implemented a successful solution. Instead of using Ticketmaster as its outlet, the school created its own Web site, SHUtickets.com, where concertgoers can purchase tickets directly from the school, sans the hassle of unnecessary surcharges.
While FUSA did put in a lot of effort to organize a successful spring concert, it looks like Sacred Heart came out on top once again.
Either way, Friday night should be a guaranteed good time, “and it’s all because of” Ne-Yo.
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