Tickets are selling out fast for this week's fall concert featuring alternative pop artist Rufus Wainwright.
So far, 900 of the available 1,100 tickets to Friday's concert in Irvine Auditorium have been sold. They went on sale Sept. 14.
"We're definitely expecting to sell out before the end of the week," said Wharton and Engineering senior Matt Mizrahi, co-chairman of Social Planning and Events Committee Concerts.
College senior David Fraga, who purchased his ticket yesterday, said he is looking forward to the show and thinks that Wainwright's music will appeal to the Penn audience. Wainwright is known for his cover of Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" in the movie Shrek.
"Rufus is a good artist for a college group because he's somewhat alternative," Fraga said. "He's not what you'd hear on MTV, but his music is enjoyable and I'm excited to see him."
In choosing an act to headline the concert, Mizrahi said, organizers took into account responses to a survey sent out to the student body last October. In the survey - which will be repeated via e-mail within the next few weeks - students are asked to submit three bands they would like to see perform at Penn.
"We do all kinds of statistics on" the survey, Mizrahi said. "I believe Rufus Wainwright . was definitely towards the top of the artists we could afford for this show."
SPEC was allocated $648,758 last spring by the Undergraduate Assembly for its annual budget, which pays for events like the Spring Fling concert and speakers throughout the year.
The budget for the fall concert is significantly smaller than the budget for Spring Fling, Mizrahi said. He would not disclose the precise amount the organization paid for Wainwright's appearance.
For that reason, SPEC Concerts tries to find a popular solo act for the fall show, as opposed to the larger acts featured in Spring Fling concerts, Mizrahi said. Howie Day played at last year's sold-out fall concert.
Opening for Wainwright will be another solo act, singer-songwriter Jill Stevenson. SPEC Concerts selected Stevenson independently of Wainwright.
"For the opener, we feel like it's our chance to be creative and explore up-and-coming artists," Mizrahi said. He said he saw Stevenson perform in New York twice last summer and enjoyed her music.
And according to Stevenson's agent, Penn students should like her music too.
"It's so much more than just the music . the way she talks and the way she plays, it's really just an experience," said Jeff Shornick, a representative from Stevenson's agency, On That Note.
Tickets will be on sale on Locust Walk today through Thursday for $15. When tickets first went on sale last month, they cost $8.
Students who register to vote at the Penn Leads the Vote table on Locust Walk will receive a $3 discount on their ticket through Thursday. Mizrahi said students should bring proof of their registration when purchasing their tickets to receive the discount.
On the day of the show, tickets will be $20 on Locust Walk and at the Irvine box office.
Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m.
