By JOHN LEE

STAFF WRITER

The Spring Weekend Concert survey revealed a surprising number of choices for which students could vote, featuring primarily indie acts and no mainstream musicians. The lack of any prominent acts in the recently released list showed a shift in approach by the administration and the student activity committees, reflecting budgetary concerns, the availability of the artists and the appropriateness of the music.

The primary committee who creates the survey and organizes the Spring Weekend concert, CAB (Campus Activities Board), has decided on a more pragmatic approach to creating the survey, which is sent out to all students during the fall semester. This approach was used as a means for students to grasp a realistic indication of what kind of artists the CAB is capable of booking.

“This year, the concert co-chairs made the deliberate decision to only have artists that are within the budget on the survey. In past years artists have been used as genre indicators, i.e. Avicii for electronic or Taylor Swift for country, and it seems to have confused the student body on CAB’s budget and capability of booking these type of artists. It is not what type of artists CAB wants but rather what the student body wants,” Lara Mosley, Co-Chair of the CAB Concert Committee, said. “It is CAB’s objective to find an artist that both pleases the student body and the administration.”

The budget is the primary factor in deciding which artists are available to play at the Spring Weekend concert. The relative cheapness of indie artists compared to mainstream ones, not only guarantees their booking, but also presents the possibility that two acts may be able to perform at the concert.

The budget itself remains a closely guarded secret, known only to the CAB executive committee and university administration. The reason why the budget is kept from the general student body, and even from most of the members of CAB, however, is because of its relative instability.

“I don’t actually know the budget, that is a very hush-hush thing within the CAB itself because it can fluctuate so much. You can say we have thirty-five grand now but next week we may have forty grand because we have excess cash that wasn’t used, so it’s always a grey area,” said Alex Whitteker, a member of CAB’s general board.

Money is not the only reason behind the prevalence of indie musicians in the survey. The success of the indie rock band MGMT who came to the college three years ago was also cited as a factor, according to Gina Meltzer, the president of CAB.

Still, even indie artists have been known to have unexpected problems pop up that may affect their budget. Last year, Foster the People was booked to play for the Spring Weekend concert. Their single, “Pumped Up Kicks,” however, shot up to number one in the billboard charts that year. Therefore, Foster the People went from being an opening act to headlining their own tours.

This resulted in the band getting a much bigger tour, being able to demand much more money and also not being in the New York area at the time. The band pulled out of the event and because CAB and the Fordham administration could no longer afford the performance. Jay Sean, the rapper, was then booked to play at the concert, in a last-ditch effort to have a musician perform and save the event.

There are other reasons for the influx of indie rock acts on the list, reasons that pertain to the conservative nature of the Fordham administration. Hip-hop is a genre that does not have much of a presence in the survey. This is because of the prevalence of controversial lyrics in hip-hop songs compared to those in indie rock, as hip-hop lyrics are not generally believed to be in support of Fordham’s mission statement endorsing Jesuit ideals, as stated by Mosley.

There are past stories involving hip-hop musicians, however, that reveal a bit more about why the administration is reluctant to embrace hip-hop. Ghostface Killah, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, who came to the campus several years ago to perform at the Spring Weekend concert, left much controversy in his wake.

“We can’t think of a lot of different acts because of what Ghostface Killah did,” Whitteker said. “Reportedly, Ghostface Killah was drinking and smoking weed with students, and allegedly, sleeping with students. Basically, a lot of different past things have come to bite us in the ass.”

These tight restrictions by the administration show that the actual hosting of the event and the process leading up to the concert is full of complications and trials for CAB, who must maintain a balancing act between the administration and the student body.

The process begins with the two co-chairs of the CAB Concert Committee and the creation of the Spring Weekend concert survey that is sent out to students. The co-chairs begin by composing a list of musicians that they can afford. The administration advisor and Fordham agent then go through the list and advise the co-chairs on which artists can get through the administration process.

Next, the two co-chairs hold a meeting with the general board of CAB and discuss achievable artists. Based on these discussions, the survey is created and sent out to the student body.

Next, student votes are counted and a list of artists is sent to the administration to seek approval from deans and Rev. Joseph McShane, S.J., President of the University. After approval, Fordham’s agent informs the two co-chairs on scheduling and pricing for the artists during the month of April. It is then entirely up to the co-chairs to make the decision. If the musician says yes, the concert is able to proceed.

When the musicians arrive, CAB must also cater to their needs and demands. Some of it is relatively simple such as food and drinks, but other requests are more difficult, taxing and downright menial.

An example of this is Stephan Jenkins, the lead singer of Third Eye Blind. When the band came to the university two years ago to perform, Jenkins asked to use the school weight room before the show was to start, resulting in the band getting to the stage late.

CAB will go through this same process this year and will announce who their chosen performer will be in the future.

Jay Sean, who performed last year, did not get a great reception from the student body, admitted Whitteker, but he feels that this year CAB will be able to pull off a good show for the entire school.

“I think we have a very dedicated group this year.” Whitteker said. These are people that want to get things done. They want to do what’s best for the students. They might be the students who are not happy with how things went last year, and might want to do something that they’re happy with this year,. CAB has to be the security for these events and you don’t want to be setting up and dismantling for things you don’t believe in and things you don’t enjoy. We’ll do our best to really get what is going to be the most enjoyable event for the whole campus. “