By Jason Cunningham
No, I’m not excited that New Found Glory is the headlining act for the CAN Spring Week Concert at the Winter Sno Ball Dance. Yes, there’s absolutely no chance I’d go see them play under any circumstance. With that being said, the Central Activities Network picked the perfect band to headline this year. No matter how much I hate to admit it, New Found Glory will probably draw in a good chunk of the CCSU community.
Yes, $70,000 is a lot of money, but not enough to fund bands like Green Day or Weezer, the two most desired choices as voted by the poll of students taken prior to CAN’s decision to book the once again increasingly relevant pop-punkers. Luckily, New Found Glory is generic enough to sound like the two acts students actually wanted to see, and they’re likely to shares fans with them.
After the facility fees and lighting expenses CAN is only left with $40,000 to pay for the musical artists, securing steadily rising rapper Wale as an opener. Though I’m not particularly thrilled about the upcoming concert, securing New Found Glory and Wale were great moves on CAN’s part. Having two artists of different genres perform may be able to attract a broader audience. That potential is further heightened because of the recent attention both Wale and New Fond Glory have received in the past couple of years.
Wale acted alongside UCB as the official house band for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and has gained national attention while touring with acts such as Jay-Z and N.E.R.D. His 2009 debut album Attention Deficit features big weight collaborators Lady Gaga and Pharrell to name a few. It came in at number 21 on the Billboard 200 and received mostly favorable reviews from critics. New Found Glory has also received a good amount of attention for their 2009 album Not Without a Fight. The band’s sixth studio album, produced by Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, reached number one on the Top Independent Albums and number 12 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its release. It did well within the alternative music press.
Of course the regular grumbles will come from those who will always be disappointed with the artists the Spring Week Concert has to offer. Either way expect to see a decent turnout this year. At around $15 a ticket for students, the price is very affordable. These are acts that have mass appeal for the right amount of buck. It looks like CAN has successfully arranged for the Winter Sno Ball Dance to be a show for everyone under the “big tent.” After all, isn’t that the point of these things?
