Alternative band Sonic Youth to play at Spring Fling

Two more bands to be announced The Spring Fling Concert Committee announced last night that Sonic Youth, the popular alternative band, will play at Fling on April 22. The announcement of the lead Spring Fling band normally ends weeks of speculation, but the committee cut short the traditional period of anticipation with yesterday's announcement. In the past three years, the Fling band had not been signed before March 17. And so the phone call Wednesday night that solidified the University's contract with Sonic Youth made the committee directors ecstatic. Still, committee members said this year's task of finding a band was as "tedious" as it was in past years. "Ahhhh," exhaled Fling Co-Director and Wharton junior Gil Beverly with a huge grin. "We attribute it to just luck --basically." Not every whisper has been squelched, however -- Sonic Youth is only one of the three bands that will "co-headline" the concert, Beverly said. Sonic Youth is currently recording an album and was looking for a few shows to kick off a summer tour, Beverly said. And because the concert committee had previously inquired about the band's availability, Sonic Youth actually came looking to play at the University. "I just want to reiterate that this is one band," Beverly said. "I will say with a certain amount of certainty that there will be at least three." Although the other two bands have not yet been signed, the second band should be confirmed soon, College sophomore and Fling Co-Director Melissa Schaefer said. "We have another band that we're 99.9 percent sure about," she said. "But we want to make sure, so we don't give any false information." By signing three bands to play at the outdoor concert, the committee --Ea combined effort from the Social Planning and Events Committee and the Fling Concert Committee, is trying to establish a "festival" or "Lollapalooza" type atmosphere, Schaefer said. SPEC Concerts Co-Director Vivek Tiwary, a Wharton and College senior, agreed. The multiple-band outdoor show is being organized to satisfy as much of the University's diverse student body as possible, he said. "It's not just a concert -- it's Fling," he said. "The outdoor [atmosphere] will allow everyone to run around, to dance and to hang out. We want people to come to the show to enjoy the music and to have a really good Fling with their friends." Sonic Youth has not toured recently because the two lead singers, husband and wife team Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, just had a baby. The band which sold out two nights in a row last year at the Tower Theatre, in Upper Darby, will make one of its first appearances of the year at Fling. Tickets for the concert will be on sale by April 1, Beverly said. The tickets will be $15 -- up $2.50 from last year -- and because the concert will be outside, all tickets will be general admission. Tiwary attributed the price increase to "a stronger bill of very solid acts," security needs and the necessity of a covered stage for the outdoor concert. Although the price of tickets for this year's Fling concert will be higher than past year's, in comparison with today's concert prices the tickets are reasonable, he added. The student bands that will play in the Quadrangle have not yet been determined, committee members said. But they are accepting demo tapes this weekend at Houston Hall.

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