Tickets selling well for Spring Fling concert

Deejay Young Eller will open the concert, which will feature the Roots and Ben Folds Five. The lineup is finally set for Friday's Spring Fling concert. Joining the Roots and Ben Folds Five will be New York-based deejay Young Eller. According to SPEC Concerts co-director and Engineering senior Ari Jaffess, the organizing committee selected Young Eller to open because he plays an eclectic selection of music. "We wanted both headliners to have a lot of time," Jaffess said of the committee's decision to hire an opening deejay. "And the bands both wanted a lot of time as well." So far, ticket sales for the concert, which will be held on Hill Field rain or shine, have been steady, according to SPEC Chairman Jon Herrmann. With a total capacity of 6,000, Herrmann said the event organizers were hoping to sell more than 4,000 tickets. As of yesterday, 2,900 total concert tickets had been sold, Jaffess said. Of that number, Jaffess estimated that 2,250 were sold to students, and 650 to the general public. Last year's show, headlined by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Run DMC, sold about 2,500 tickets. Tickets have been for sale on Locust Walk since March 27, and will continue to be sold on the Walk from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. today and tomorrow. They are priced at $15 for Penn students and $23 for the general public until Thursday. "Ticket sales have been going crazy on the Walk," Jaffess noted. "We have been averaging about 400 tickets per day." The concert has also been advertised on radio stations, and tickets were made available to the general public through Ticketmaster. Herrmann said he believes the big-name bands headlining this year's Fling played a role in the high sales. "Ticket sales are always defined by who is playing," Herrmann said. "And this year is a bigger show, with more popular bands." The day of the show, tickets will be sold at the concert with student tickets priced at $20 and general public admission at $25. Students will be admitted onto Hill Field at 7 p.m., while the concert itself is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. The theme for this year's Spring Fling is themed "Fling Me Baby One More Time," inspired by teen singing sensation Britney Spears' hit single. Philadelphia-based rap and R&B; group The Roots have been making waves on the music scene since 1987 with their unique blend of vocals and drum beats. Their recent album, Things Fall Apart, brought them critical and commercial success. Ben Folds Five, a unique guitar-free trio, made a mainstream name for themselves with their hit single "Brick" in 1997. Their album Whatever and Ever Amen went platinum that same year.

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