Spring Fling concert moved to Palestra

Like last year, forecasts of bad weather forced Fling organizers to relocate the concert from Hill Field. Make it Mother Nature two, Spring Fling zero. Concert organizers with the Social Planning and Events Committee decided yesterday morning to move the concert indoors to its rain location, the Palestra, based on weather reports predicting inclement weather this evening. Last year's concert was also moved indoors due to bad weather. Last night's weather forecasts called for cloud cover and scattered showers, with a high of 70 degrees. "We collected about 20 different forecasts," SPEC Concerts Committee Co-Chairperson Allison Rosen said. "All of them pointed towards a big storm coming our way." College senior Joel Epstein, the committee's other co-chairperson, said the likelihood of fair weather was "iffy at best," and that the "possibility" of inclement weather was enough to get the concert moved. Rosen, a Wharton senior, described the situation as a dilemma between having a definite indoor show and a "risk in the rain." "The artists wouldn't want to play in the rain," Rosen said, adding that clouds, wind or even a light drizzle would put a damper on the concert. This year's show is being headlined by tenor saxophone legend Maceo Parker and backed up by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the punk-rock band Fishbone and the Five Fingers of Funk, a 10-performer ensemble from Portland, Ore. The capacity at the Palestra, however, will not be less than that of Hill Field. Alhough more than 8,000 people can crowd into the outdoor venue, the artists' contracts capped the number of $12 tickets at 4,000 -- far less than the arena's capacity of 8,700. "It really didn't matter to us," Rosen said. Last year's decision to move the Fling concert -- then headlined by A Tribe Called Quest -- was made the day of the show. Irvine Auditorium, the rain location for that concert, is closed this year due to renovations for the $69 million Perelman Quadrangle. This year, organizers had to decide whether to move the concert more than a day in advance because the Palestra, unlike Irvine, does not have a stage already constructed. Crews built the stage for the concert on the Palestra floor last night, according to Rosen. The show will be the first Fling concert to be held in the Palestra since Cypress Hill performed there in 1994. The concert is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Ticket holders will be admitted beginning at 6:30 p.m., with the first 1,000 being given wristbands entitling them to floor seating. The Five Fingers of Funk will open the show, followed by Fishbone and Spencer, Rosen said. Parker will go on at about 10:30 p.m., and the show is expected to end at midnight. Security guards at the event intend to deter people from bringing alcoholic beverages inside the arena, checking to make sure that no bottles or bags enter the arena, Rosen said. But she was skeptical about the success of such efforts, noting that "people can find ways to do what they want."

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