Chase Rice said that Carolina can — and it did.
The Carolina Union Activities Board announced today that Chase Rice, a former UNC linebacker and a Class of 2008 graduate, will be the performer at the 2016 Jubilee concert. The show will be held on April 16 in Carmichael Arena, the same day as the annual Spring Football Game.
“We’re pretty excited,” said Merrick Osborne, president of CUAB. “There was just a lot of positive energy, a lot of excitement in the air.”
With an overall budget of $120,000 for the concert, CUAB spent $77,000 booking Rice, said Jonathan Perron, the concert chairperson. He also said one opening act was finalized, and another one may be in the works. While the number of available tickets has not been finalized yet, the concert will be open to the public.
The decision was made after two polls were conducted both online and in the Pit, which asked students to choose between acts such as The Weeknd, Schoolboy Q, Capital Cities, Fetty Wap, PartyNextDoor, Mac Miller, Bryson Tiller, Ice Cube, Odessa, Zhu, Slightly Stupid and The Neighborhood. Based on availability, student interest and cost, the CUAB board voted on the act.
The polls also offered CUAB an idea of the genre of musician to pursue.
“For the past three years, we’ve had hip hop concerts, and this is obviously something different — this is something we haven’t done before,” said Boateng Kubi, vice president of outreach and public relations for CUAB. “It targets sects of the population that we might not target with hip hop acts.”
To those disappointed with the decision, CUAB said they have been working with the athletics department to plan events throughout the day, and wants to emphasize the event of Jubilee rather than just the concert itself.
“Jubilee — yes, it’s a concert, but it’s really a day of activities, of fun, of things to do,” said Osborne. “We’re working on a lot of different things to make sure that’s more than just a concert.”
