By Sarah Metcalf
The Springfest committee announced yesterday that hip-hop artist and MTV regular Ludacris will headline the annual campus concert on April 2.
The Budget Review Committee (BRC) allocated $195,000 to the Council for University Programming (CUP) to bring a big-name musician to campus for the Springfest concert after a public forum in December where students had the opportunity to voice their concerns.
“I think it’s just really great, and I’m really excited,” said CUP’s concert chairperson Joshua Pratt. “We got a well-known, quality, ‘now’ kind of band. People are buying his CD right now … I just think it’s going to be great for the university.”
Ludacris is a Top-40 hip-hop artist whose single, “Stand Up,” has been receiving substantial radio play and time on MTV. His current album, “Chicken and Beer,” sold nearly half a million copies in its first week and topped Outkast to debut at number one on the Billboard charts.
The deal had been in process for weeks, CUP President Tom Kneafsey said.
“We obtained the funding, and then the Springfest committee basically locked themselves in their room every Monday night and debated what was best for NU and what the student body wanted to see,” Kneafsey said. “We decided to go with the hip-hop genre because we believe there’s a huge demand for that. That was only the starting point.”
The committee then had to throw out names of groups, Kneafsey said, and decide which were feasible and in the proper price range. They had to meet and work very closely with their “middle agent” for several weeks, who then contacted the bands that were being considered and relayed schedules, tour dates and prices back to the committee.
“I think we met our expectations,” Pratt said. “No matter who we got, we would have put on the best Springfest possible. But we got lucky – we were shooting for the stars, and we got one.”
The concert will be held in Matthews Arena, unlike past Springfest concerts, which have traditionally been held outside. While some may worry that this will limit the amount of students able to attend, Pratt does not anticipate it to be a problem.
“Last year, we had about 3,000 students attend. The concert was in May, though, and we can’t have it that late because of semester conversion, so we have to have it inside due to the possibility of snow, rain and sleet,” Pratt said. “But Matthews can hold anywhere between 4,000 and 6,000 students, so we should be able to hold at least double from last year’s event.”
Kneafsey said he is planning to offer tickets to Northeastern students before any other colleges, but nothing is definite yet. Ticket prices will not exceed $15 for NU students, and Pratt said he would love to see the concert sell out solely to Northeastern students.
“Ideally, I would love to have the tickets sell out in the first week and see 6,000 Northeastern students there,” Pratt said.
While the committee considers the signing of Ludacris to be a huge success for the university, some students are disappointed due to the recent rumors that Outkast would be performing.
“It’s not Out-kast, I’m outraged,” said Alexis Yavne, a freshman visual arts major. “They should get Outkast. I don’t like Lud-acris, they should have gotten someone else.”
Still, some students realize the difficulty involved in booking big-name acts.
“Hey, it’s better than nothing. I would have preferred Outkast, but just getting a popular rapper to come to a college is good enough,” said Kelvin Ali, a freshman athletic training major. “I’m pretty pleased with that, but I still may not go.”
Kneafsey said Ludacris was the first act to accept their offer.
“I really like both Outkast and Ludacris. Ludacris will probably start the party better, actually,” said Kernst Pierre-Louis, a freshman architecture major. “I don’t see anything bad happening because they chose Ludacris. I think it’s money well spent, and it might be better for them in profits. [Ludacris] sells more and he seems to be more widely-based.”
Some students however, are not a fan of the hip-hop genre at all.
“I’m not a big fan of Ludacris, it probably would have been a bit better to get someone else,” said Eric Vafides, a sophomore engineering major. “I’d say most people in this school listen to alternative more than anything else – it’s more of a majority.”
Pratt acknowledged that not all of the student body likes Ludacris, and said the search for acts was not over.
“We’re not done with getting acts, and we’re hoping to land an opening act that will get even more of the population [of Northeastern] to come,” Pratt said. “We’re going to have excitement all day, and make it an event that everyone can go to and have a good time. We’re also in the process of planning Springfest events for the rest of the week that will appeal to everyone.”
Springfest week, catch phrased “Springfest: Remix!” for 2004, will begin March 29 with comedian John Leguizamo, who appeared in the film “Moulin Rouge,” performing in Blackman Auditorium. It will run through April 2, with the concert acting as the grand finale.
Kneafsey said he is pleased about the progress he has seen Springfest make in the time of his involvement, and is optimistic about continuing to present big-name acts in the future.
“When I came here [as a freshman], the long-term goal of Springfest was to get a good artist who had released a successful album that academic year. That was the vision,” Kneafsey said. “We can’t solely take credit for this – we owe a lot to our predecessors; the BRC, the Student Government Association, our advisors and all the other student groups who come to the meetings, and the students who have continued to advocate for bigger programs on campus. It’s just a culmination of our plans, and it’s good to see it pay off.”
-Staff writer Glenn Yoder contributed to this report.
