Wanted: Familiar pop, rock artists

The planners of this year's Spring Fling concert asked for feedback -- and they got it.

Five hundred and twenty-one students responded to the Social Planning and Events Committee Concerts' online survey, listing a total of 704 artists they would like to see perform.

The most popular picks were Ben Folds, Guster, the Roots, Death Cab for Cutie, OAR, Weezer, Missy Elliot and Ciara.

Pop lead the pack as the genre students would most like to see at a concert. Survey participants were asked to choose three out of 13 genres of music.

Just over half of respondents chose pop/top 40, followed by classic rock with 45.7 percent, alternative with 44.9 percent and hip-hop with 40.9 percent. The next highest-ranked genre was rhythm and blues with 25.1 percent.

After receiving criticism and a disappointing turnout at last year's Spring Fling concert, which was headlined by Sonic Youth, SPEC Concerts said they are making an effort to reach out to students through initiatives like the survey.

"We're basing our decisions on what these students are asking for," SPEC Concerts co-director and College senior Sam Huntington said. "There was a small upheaval for the groups we brought [last year], so this year we went out of our way to ask students what they wanted to hear," he said.

But SPEC Concerts co-Director and Wharton and Engineering senior Matt Mizrahi said that the survey results do not necessarily reflect who SPEC Concerts is chasing.

The list "is not a bible, it's a guide," Mizrahi said. "But we think it's a pretty good gauge" of who students want.

After last year's disappointing turnout, Huntington said that SPEC Concerts is trying a different approach for Fling this year.

The upcoming Spring Fling concert will be "more of a grounded concept based on what the masses would like to hear," Huntington said.

He expects the chosen bands should be announced in mid-March.

Huntington added that getting good bands to play at Fling is not as simple as finding out what bands students want and then booking them. The issues of artist availability and cost are often large barriers to booking popular artists.

Wharton junior Christina Celuzza said that all she wants is to have heard of the artists that will play at the Fling concert this April.

"I just don't want anybody I've never heard of," Celuzza said, adding that she prefers hip-hop artists because they are better at engaging an audience.

Celuzza said she was dismayed by last year's choice and hopes this year's will be better.

"I don't know who Sonic Youth is, [and] nobody I knew was going," she said. "I was actually rather disappointed about it."

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