EDITORIAL: The "mother" of all concerts?

SPEC needs to start looking for Fling bands earlier if they want to sign bigname bands. Fling is only three weeks away and only now have the bands for the Friday night concert been signed. Last year, SPEC announced the coming of Violent Femmes two months before Fling. SPEC should have started looking for bands much earlier. It's not as if the date for the concert changes considerably from year to year. We appreciate that they spent a large amount of time garnering student opinion, but was it too much time? Instead, SPEC members should have been searching for musical acts and developing contingency plans in the event they were unable to secure their first choice. What happened to the two big-name bands SPEC promised us for "The Mother of All Flings" concert? We are happy with the selection of A Tribe Called Quest -- a rap group that is perpetually innovate and fresh. They are a big-name music group we have come to expect at the Fling concert. But Fun Lovin' Criminals is hardly a big-name band. Their sole claim to fame is appearing on a MTV sex question and answer show. Not exactly a band that is revolutionizing the world of rap and hip-hop music or any music, for that matter. Somewhere during the process, SPEC modified its goal to attract two big-name bands, because we clearly don't have two headliners at the Fling concert this year. If SPEC isn't going to be able to sign bands of the same caliber as previous years, they might want to look into hiring an outside agency to find bands for the concert. Students may be willing to pay a few extra dollars if an agency is able to secure several bands that are more attractive. The concert is considered the pinnacle of Fling. But if SPEC does not get its act together sooner next year, the concert may not have any big-name bands.