The first semester is coming to a close, and FUSA is feverishly working to book an act for a spring concert amid a number of rumors about possible bands visiting Fairfield.
Student body president Karen Donoghue, ’03 said that FUSA placed a $75,000 bid for the Dave Matthews Band that was not accepted, and that plans are currently underway to bring another concert to campus.
According to Donoghue and Vice President of Programming Joni Saunders ’03, Matthews was accepting bids at any price from the start, but in the end would not accept any less than $125,000 because of the high number of bids.
“We should have a band signed by the time we go home for break,” Donoghue said.
Bands being discussed for a spring concert currently include big name acts like Counting Crows, Jimmy Eat World and the Goo Goo Dolls-for which FUSA would charge students to attend -and smaller bands, like O.A.R., which would be free of charge.
“I would love to see O.A.R. come here again,” said John Doney, ’04. “They should keep the spring concerts outdoors because having them in Alumni Hall makes the band sound like crap.”
“I wouldn’t go to Jimmy Eat World or bands like that,” Doney said, “But I would like to see Counting Crows or someone like that.”
The process for finding a band is an extensive one. FUSA looks to the help of Clear Channel Entertainment, who aids FUSA in choosing a band. Once a band is found a binding bid is placed, and FUSA finds out whether or not it is accepted within two weeks.
“We placed a bid for Billy Joel in October,” said Donoghue. “We offered $45,000, but were rejected even if we charged students $35 per ticket.”
The big decision, according to FUSA, is to determine whether or not to charge students for the concert, which will be held either the weekend before spring break or the weekend after. This also incorporates how high a bid FUSA can place.
“Finding a band for the spring is the top priority for the programming board,” said Saunders. “The budget that we get, however, needs to be divided accordingly.”
FUSA received corporate sponsorship from Volkswagen in order to host Rusted Root this fall. According to Donoghue, they tried to get sponsorship for a spring concert, but were rejected.
“If the concert is outside, it has to be free,” said Donoghue. “We are actually trying to use the space in front of the library to have the spring concert, but the approval to get that space is tough.”
“Even I wouldn’t pay more than $15 for a concert, but it would be cool to hang out with all your friends and have a good time if a good band came,” Donoghue said. “We would rather make it free or like five bucks.”
All in all, FUSA remains optimistic that they can host a successful event that students will attend, even after failing to book the Dave Matthews Band.
“I’m disappointed because it could have been the best thing that Fairfield has ever done,” Donoghue said.
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