Criticism of Homecoming concert is very unfounded
November 4, 2009
TO THE EDITOR:
It’s a shame Jordan Lawrence disagrees with CUAB’s choice of bringing Fabolous to campus for this year’s homecoming (“Homecoming acts will underwhelm,” Nov. 2). It’s a bigger shame he’s too consumed with the idea of “deserving” a better concert to see just how misguided his own views are.
It’s a shame that Fabolous doesn’t have near the wide-spread appeal as an act as famous as the Avett Brothers. Sure, Fabolous’ recent album was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and he’s released a steady stream of hits over the past decade, but the Avett brothers just signed a record deal!
And it’s a tragedy that Anoop Desai, a former contestant on America’s most popular TV show and America’s sweetheart last season, is choosing to perform for his alma mater, especially considering that we could have seen Kanye West. Oh wait, sorry, Kid Cudi. No, I don’t know who that is.
Yes, it is indeed unfortunate. After all, based on Lawrence’s statements we can assume he’s better at football than most members of the team, who certainly did deliver an “underwhelming” performance Thursday night at Virginia Tech.
So, all calamities aside, let me be perfectly clear: We at UNC are lucky. Sure, our student fees may not bring in as famous of acts as Duke, but we are also paying significantly less.
And as terrible as having a popular rapper, an American Idol contestant, and a winning football team on campus must be for Jordan Lawrence, consider the alternative: not having any of those.
Jay Morgan
Freshman
Physics
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Jay, You've got to be
Jay,
You've got to be kidding. You are asking a bunch of intelligent kids at a southern school to be excited b/c someone was on top of the billboard charts? Just b/c 12 year old suburban girls buy the album and put the man on TRL (does that still exist?), doesn't mean it's good. The Grateful Dead never had a number one hit, neither did Bob Marley, nor has any jazz musician in the last 50 years or so. Number one hits do not make an artist. I'm not a huge Avett Brothers fan, but look at the demographic of UNC. It is composed of fairly traditional (this is not NYU), intelligent, southern people. The Avett Bros crush this demographic. Please don't confuse popularity among your average American as being appropriate for UNC, or even as a litmus for good music.
Thanks
ps I don't know where to begin with your assertion that being on American Idol qualifies anyone as an artist worthy of our attention (I would actually argue the to contrary), but as Anoop is a Tar Heel, I support the choice.
Well done.
Well done, Mr. Morgan. We at UNC are quite lucky indeed! However, I might have to say that Duke does not get "more famous" acts than us, necessarily. Recent articles comparing UNC's acts to Duke's were very poorly researched and expressed.
Hey Jay!
This isn't State buddy! We can and DO expect great things from our 4 years here. Maybe you are the one that's too caught up in his own views...If you want mediocrity there is a state college 30 mins down the road that has put up with it for a long time!
Hey Jamsandwich[face]!
Hey buddy, what does that even mean? If you check out some of the other things going on around campus, you'd realize there are plenty of other things happening besides one Homecoming concert that happened last weekend. And honestly, we are incredibly lucky to get the awesome programs and opportunities we do.
We get an extremely diverse range of programs that represent the extremely diverse range of tastes we have on campus. We get plenty of acts that N.C. State and Duke never see, and a lot of the ones that people have been mentioning lately to compare, we've had at our school first.
But I guess if you read the DTH every day, you'd have no idea there are other concerts going on, 1. because the DTH doesn't support our school and doesn't write about them and 2. because the ones they do write about, they advertise the wrong times.
Look ZackG
CUAB and CAA did the best they could with what they were given. All the artists they considered bailed on them at the minute. THE LAST MINUTE. They scrambled to put together a great show that did indeed appeal to a wide audience. Just because it didn't live up to the Avett Brothers (which, don't get me wrong, was a great show, I was there), doesn't mean Fabolous was a bad show. I'm not that big of fan of Fabolous, but you know what? It was actually a pretty fun show. I had a great time and I'm glad Fabolous came to UNC.
I am not saying that people
I am not saying that people who were there didn't enjoy the show. I was just saying the guy who wrote the above editorial made some pretty stupid claims. And it absolutely did not appeal to a wide audience because only 700 people went.
Did you stop and think
Perhaps more people would have considered attending Fabolous if our school's newspaper wasn't constantly trashing the concert every day leading up to it.
And when someone says "appeal to a wide audience" they mean that this time, they are appealing to hip-hop/rap fans now, and last year with Avett Brothers it was a different audience. Not to mention Lost in the Trees that came last week and the three Chinese underground bands coming next week....is that really not appealing to a wide audience and a spectrum of musical genres? Really? Really?!
Thank You
Jay Morgan, this may be the best editorial about homecoming thus far.
Definitely best written article in DTH about Homecoming this yr.
Jay Morgan, great job. The DTH/Mr. Lawrence are so absurd it's HILARIOUS.
congratulations, you're an idiot
First of all, to put fabolous's fame and wide spread appeal into perspective, he only sold half of memorial hall and cost over 45,000 dollars and several other ridiculous requirements such as black love seats and chicken wings. The Avett Brothers, who don't have nearly as much "wide spread appeal" and aren't as "famous," sold Memorial Hall out in a few hours. Second, the Avett Brothers have had a record label for 7 years, but only recently signed to a major label, Columbia, to work with legendary producer Rick Rubin. Finally, Jordan Lawrence is correct. We at UNC do deserve a better concert. Considering CUAB had nearly 50,000 dollars to bring a band to UNC, but could only find 700 students who cared enough to go is embarrassing.
It's astonishing how wrong you are
1.) It is NOT "ridiculous" for Fabolous to request food, drink, and a place to sit down.
2.) Avett Brothers DID NOT sell out, much less in a few hours.
3.) What do you mean "deserve a better concert???" That is your opinion! I'm pretty sure those 700-800 students thought they deserved that amazing concert Sunday night.
1. 2 cases of assorted
1. 2 cases of assorted snapple ice teas, black towels, and then demanding 100 percent of merchandise sales despite the previously agreed upon 80-20 split with UNC isn't ridiculous?
2. The Avett concert did sell out. I don't know why you think it didn't. Here is a review form the concert mentioning the "sold out" crowd. http://www.uncartmag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25:the-avett-brothers-come-home&catid=3:music&Itemid=4
3. OMGZ!(!(#! it is like my opinion, obviously. I just think that if the university is going to spend that kind of money for a performer that only brings 700 students, they should reconsider their options.
Response to ZachG's #1: demands totally normal
As far as performers go, that was totally normal, and Nothing compared to what some artists demand in their contracts.
See this comment for some examples of things. It's okay, you just didn't know.
http://dailytarheel.com/content/fabolous’-contract-reveals-details-about-his-demands#comment-730
You have no idea what you are talking about.
1. No, it is not ridiculous. Almost all performers need something to drink and a towel or two, even the Avett Brothers. And there was no merchandise at his concert, but guessing by your intense hatred, you probably didn't attend and didn't realize that. Also, UNC made nearly 10K back on ticket sales, far more than any merch sales could ever accomplish. Even if the merch sales were decent, that money strictly goes to Memorial, so it wouldn't go back into the hands of students.
2. The Avett Brothers concert did not sell out, because there were at least 100 empty seats at the concert. I saw them with my own eyes. Just because one news article claims that it was sold out, does not make it a fact. You should know that; especially since you are a DTH reader, and they have constant misprints and incorrect information (ie the fact that the Anoop concert has been misprinted twice as 8 pm and not 7pm).
3. You must understand that the selection committee was under a time crunch and they did the best they could to make everyone happy. They had also been working since May, so yes, they did "reconsider their options" multiple times after artist rejected their offers. I'm sorry if you specifically don't like Anoop or Fabolous, but a lot of others do. Also, you can always join CUAB to bring other artists throughout the year. I don't know why people think the homecoming concerts are the only concerts that come here the entire year, because they aren't.