By Michael Napolitano
The Council for University Programs (CUP) took its first step this week in planning Northeastern’s annual Springfest concert. Springfest is a week of events at the end of the school year hosted by CUP. It ends with a concert at Matthews Arena. This year, CUP has an approved budget of $82,600 for Springfest.
On Nov. 14, the council released an online survey to gather data that will help decide many aspects of the event slated for April. The survey, as it has done the past two years, will collect information about students’ favorite genres of music. It also asked students how many acts they would like to see, and how much variety should appear in the types of music offered.
Garret Marques, the vice president of collaboration for CUP, said this year’s survey will allow them to get much more in-depth feedback on what the students want. It will be this source that the council will be taking into consideration the most when deciding who will be performing this spring.
CUP has been ready to make offers to bands for a while, but has said it will wait until the survey has generated enough responses to decide on who will be invited.
“Getting as much student input as possible is extremely important to us,” said Jeff Maimon, large Concert chair of CUP. “With such diverse tastes in music, it is extremely hard to book a line-up that everyone at NU is interested in. In the past, we have been very successful at combining genres and offering students a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ concert. We want to continue this tradition.”
Maimon oversaw last year’s Springfest concert as well, which sold out faster than any event in Northeastern history. While many were happy with 2007’s lineup of Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Gym Class Heroes and RJD2, others have expressed a desire for different types of music.
“I don’t care about Springfest until we get better bands,” said Kristine Gammer, a sophomore communication studies major. “I hear other schools get bands like Third Eye Blind, while we get RJD2. I’d like music that isn’t rap, hip-hop, or wanna-be punk.”
CUP’s online survey can be found at its website, www.cup.neu.edu.
