Spurning Penn's offer, Bosstones to play Princeton

Spring Fling organizers asked the group to come to Penn, but the band is likely to go to Princeton and Skidmore instead. Princeton University did not just beat Penn on the basketball court this week -- it also won out over Penn in a bid to secure the Mighty Mighty Bosstones for a spring concert. The Social Planning and Events Committee had tried to secure the Bosstones -- a high-profile ska-core band whose hits include "The Impression That I Get" -- as the headliners for this year's Spring Fling, according to SPEC Concerts Committee Co-Director Allison Rosen, a Wharton senior. But the Bosstones have agreed to play at Princeton April 17, Rosen said. Additionally, the band has given a "verbal commitment" to play at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the very next day, according to the school's student activities coordinator, Barbara Schallehn. Rosen confirmed that "we were interested in having [the Bosstones] for Fling." "They just didn't pick our school," she added. On Tuesday, Drew Pompilio, a "talent buyer" at Electric Factory Concerts working with SPEC, said he was negotiating with the Bosstones for them to play the April 17 Fling concert on Hill Field, although he had stressed the deal was not finalized. He had added that a final deal with the bands that are coming could be reached as early as next week. Pompilio refused to comment yesterday to The Daily Pennsylvanian. Rosen stressed that the process of bringing a major act to like the Bosstones to Penn is difficult and competitive. "We were in the fray with a lot of other schools and a lot of different venues," she said, noting that the band's agents typically make the final decision over which bids are accepted. She said it is rare for the student planners, such as those on SPEC, to work directly with the band's management in trying to book a concert date. Although she did try to keep in contact with the Bosstones' agent, Rosen said a professional middle agent -- in this case Pompilio -- handled most of the negotiations with the group. Although she would not divulge the terms of SPEC's offer to the Bosstones, Rosen indicated that the band's agent never told her why Penn lost out to Princeton and Skidmore. "They don't give you explanations," she said. "Obviously it wasn't our fault." Rosen added that Penn was not given the opportunity to match or exceed the offers the Bosstones' management accepted from the other schools. "It's up to the agents to route the tour," she said, noting that the process often seemed "arbitrary." Rosen stressed that members of SPEC "put more effort into it than most schools do" in trying to secure a band for Fling. SPEC's Concerts and Spring Fling committees have been working to find bands for this year's show since the summer, she said. Rosen added that Penn is at a disadvantage when competing with other schools because it is located in Philadelphia, the nation's fourth-largest concert market and a home to several well-known concert venues, including the Electric Factory and the large CoreStates Center. "[Bands] won't want to play the same market twice," she said, noting that "remote, rural" locations -- like Princeton and Skidmore -- often have an easier time getting top acts. She explained that because of the large size of the Philadelphia concert market, a big act might have already been booked to play another venue in the city at or around the same time as Fling. In such a case, the band might not want to play another concert in Philadelphia, or may be prohibited from doing so by their contracts with the other venues. On Tuesday, Pompilio noted that such "exclusivity" clauses are standard in most contracts drawn up by promoters, including those planning Fling. "From the universities to the casinos, everyone puts these into their contracts to protect their acts," he said. "U. Penn puts in an offer, you want to protect your butt from Drexel coming in." Pompilio also emphasized that Spring Fling might not be able to attract as high quality a band as other colleges because, unlike the concerts given by Rusted Root and the Wallflowers at Drexel University last semester, Fling is a highly publicized event open to more than just college students. "They'd be more likely to sign with a closed show, private to the campus," he said. "The band won't jeopardize year-round play in Philadelphia for a one-time show at a college." And he explained that booking spring concerts is complicated by most bands' desire to begin finalizing their summer touring plans. Despite the Bosstones' tour schedule, Rosen still promises an "upbeat" show and is confident that a formal announcement will be made soon, perhaps as early as next week.

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