Concerts draw big names, few Penn students

Ben Harper strummed his sitar earlier this month on the edge of Penn's campus to an audience from all walks of life, including Girl Scouts, high school students and businesspeople.

But the one group of people perhaps most likely to be there -- Penn students themselves -- did not provide as strong a showing as one might expect.

Officially, WXPN -- which sponsored Harper's concert at World Cafe Live at 30th and Walnut streets -- is a non-commercial, member-supported radio station owned by Penn.

However, few Penn students seem to take advantage of the shows put on by the station, such as a free one last year by Of A Revolution. The band is headlining the Spring Fling concert in Wynn Commons this year, which as of last week had sold 900 tickets for a 2,500 capacity venue.

So why are students willing to spend $20 to see OAR or Citizen Cope -- who performed at Spring Fling last year -- at Wynn Commons when they could see them a few blocks further east for free?

It may be because they don't know about it.

College sophomore Emily Brady considers herself a big fan of Ben Harper but said she had no knowledge of the recent concert.

"Considering I didn't even know about [it], I don't think [WXPN] is very well connected" with students on campus, Brady said.

The Ben Harper concert, held March 17, was a part of WXPN's Free at Noon concert series.

The series -- which brings a different artist to World Cafe Live every Friday for a free show -- began in February of last year and has included concerts Citizen Cope, Hall and Oates, Ben Folds, G.Love and Hanson.

WXPN does not specifically advertise the series on the Penn campus, but station officials said this is not because they don't want Penn students to attend the shows.

Penn students "can walk two blocks and see a band every Friday," WXPN Music Director and Operations Manager Dan Reed said. "The more the merrier."

Though WXPN organizers seem eager to draw more concertgoers from Penn, they may not necessarily need their support in order for the shows to be successful, as local WXPN listeners seem very aware of the free shows.

"When Hanson came, we had young girls sleeping out the night before," WXPN Marketing Director Kim Winnick said.

Crowds at the free concerts range from about 200 to more than 600. Approximately 15,000 radio listeners tune into the concert series weekly.

"We get a couple hundred people no matter who we have [playing], even local bands," Reed said.

The Ben Harper concert brought in more than 600 people.

New Jersey resident Mike Panara, 18, arrived at WXPN at 8:30 a.m. for the noon concert in the hope of being among the first people in to see Ben Harper. He found out about the concert through an e-mail from WXPN -- he is a regular listener who signed up for the station's newsletter.

"It's a great way to promote musicians," Panara said. "The artists they have are amazing."

WXPN generally attracts listeners over 35 years old, but the station also has a solid base of younger listeners, Reed says.

"We try to reach music lovers -- intellectual, adventurous, rock and roll listeners," he said.

Reed added that getting bands to play in the free concert series has been easy, even though they aren't paid for the shows, and more bands offer to play than WXPN can take.

"It's a good situation to be in when we can pick and choose the acts we want to play," he said.

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