By Bianca Strzelczyk
The Budget Review Committee (BRC) has allocated $242,650 to the Council for University Programs’ (CUP) Major Concert Fund for this year’s Springfest concert.
This year’s allocation is an increase from the $195,000 received for last year’s Ludacris concert, which was canceled as a result of the Feb. 1 Super Bowl riots.
“[This will be] the largest show any college has tried to pull off,” said Howard T. Cusack, from Pretty Polly Productions, at Monday night’s Springfest meeting.
During the fall Busta Rhymes and Method Man concert, CUP only used about $140,000 of its approximately $250,000 budget due to headliner Wyclef Jean’s decision to pull out of the show. Last month, CUP requested a lump sum of money from the BRC for the upcoming concert. The request included the money not used in the previous concert, which had been returned to the Major Concert Fund, said CUP President Allyson Savin.
Before putting in the request, CUP submitted a spending report to the BRC for the fall concert, which was rejected. However, after meeting with BRC members and fixing the problems, the spending report was accepted and CUP received its request.
BRC Chair Ali Barlow said she is confident the concert will go smoothly.
“It has been a complete learning experience [for the members of CUP],” Barlow said.
CUP Concert Chair Josh Pratt said they are looking to spend around $150,000 on an act, with the rest of the allocation going toward security, sound, stage and other expenses.
The concert is scheduled for Saturday, April 9, as the grand finale of a week of Springfest events starting April 4. Pratt said although no potential acts are being named yet, CUP is leaning toward bringing a rock act to campus.
“We [already] had a hip-hop concert,” Pratt said. “We’re going back to a rock act because that’s what students asked for; our goal is to sell out Matthews Arena and we are just trying to have an event that will bring as many students as possible.”
CUP advisor Brooke Tempesta said the group wanted to change from a rap act to a rock act in order to attract other groups within the university.
“There were a lot of things learned [from the last concert],” Tempesta said. “A spring concert is much easier to produce because students already know one another.”
Pratt said even with the large amount of money allocated and the disappointment of last year’s cancellation, he does not feel added pressure to produce a stellar show.
“We don’t feel any [more] pressure because we did our job last year,” Pratt said. “We had an awesome line-up. Unfortunately [it] got postponed.”
With the Patriots having a winning season and entering the playoffs soon, there is a chance of another Super Bowl celebration in the Boston area. President Richard Freeland said he doesn’t anticipate any problems, however, and doesn’t expect to have a reason to cancel another concert.
“Canceling that concert was one of the most painful things I had to do as president,” Freeland said. “I believe the Northeastern community has learned our lesson — NU students handled issues during the World Series and American League playoffs in a generally respectful nature and showed we had learned something. I’m hoping that’s all behind us.”
– Staff writer Sarah Metcalf contributed to this report.
