When Alyssa Ockerbloom ’08 chose to study in Florence, Italy during spring semester, she didn’t realize that by studying abroad she would ultimately chose to miss the O.A.R. concert – the only major act that FUSA organized for the school year.
Ockerbloom said she would have preferred FUSA to plan two concerts so she could attend at least one.
“I might have liked having two only because that way I could have caught one before going abroad,” she said. She said, however, that she realizes one concert did end up attracting a bigger name than concerts in the past.
Nikki Zoller ’08 agreed.
“I think they should concentrate more on headlining instead of performing,” she said. “I know many students who were not interested in O.A.R. FUSA should ask more [of the] student population who they want to see because students look forward to these concerts.”
Ockerbloom also added that Fairfield offered the opportunity to purchase a ticket prior to going abroad for any students who would be studying in the fall when tickets were going to be sold.
Christina Pires ’08, the executive director of programming for FUSA, said that the fact that students studying abroad spring semester would miss the concert was a major concern that the committee grappled with when discussing the possibility of having one concert instead of two.
Last year, FUSA organized two concerts with the band Guster in the fall and the rap group The Roots in the spring. This year, however, O.A.R. was the only concert for the entire year.
“No matter what decision was made there is not a way to please every student,” said Pires. “So we had to go with the decision that would be best suited for the majority of the students.”
Since there will not be a concert to look forward to this semester, students had hoped that there would be another event in its place. Pires, however, said that FUSA does not plan to have any large event held in Alumni Hall in place of a spring concert, though they are considering other events for the rest of the semester.
Pires said the main reason FUSA decided on having a single concert this year was because of the results of a student survey.
“The student survey that we conducted at the end of last year showed that students would like to have one big concert. Due to budgetary reasons, we could only do one bigger concert or two smaller shows,” Pires said.
She said the final decision was made by herself and the two directors of concerts, Mike Mancini ’07 and Jon Velotta ’07. FUSA members were pleased with the final choice because they knew the big concert would be a success on campus, she said.
Student reactions to the change vary across campus.
Freshman Allyson Wuensch, who attended the O.A.R. concert in January had mixed feelings, saying, “Although I really loved the concert, there were many people who weren’t really interested in them [O.A.R.]. Since there is only one concert, all of those people missed out, whereas if there was a spring concert this year they could make more people happy.”
Allison Floyd ’10 did not go to the concert in January because she had no interest in seeing O.A.R.
She said, “I would have at least liked to have another option,” referring to a spring concert. “They could have chosen an act with completely different styles that appeal to more people.”
Junior Davide Devietti said he never attended any of the concerts, though he would have liked the option.
“I would prefer they had two concerts instead of just one. That way they can get different performers and make more people happy instead of just having one band/comedian, etc,” Devietti said.
Fairfield alumna, Jennifer Wuensch ’04 experienced two concerts when she attended Fairfield and had mixed feelings on the subject.
“I thought it was good having two concerts because the spring one was outside and the fall one was inside the gym. Though if having one is going to bring bigger names then that’s a better move, but it was nice having two because it’s something to look forward to.”
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