CUAB plans spring concert, Waka Flocka Flame considered

The Carolina Union Activities Board has decided to host a spring concert — but they still don’t know which artist will grace their stage.

The group plans to host the concert in April and will pay for it using student fees. The concert will take place on Hooker Fields.

CUAB is expecting to spend $40,000 to $50,000 on the show altogether. This figure includes the cost of the talent, stage and lighting.

“We felt this was a big opportunity for students to have an experience they couldn’t have otherwise through CUAB and through their student fees,” said Gabe Chess, president of the Carolina Union. “Hopefully, it’ll be a big success.”

CUAB is surveying students to tailor the concerts to their music tastes. Beginning with manning a white board in the Pit asking for artist choices, a committee narrowed down which artists of the white board suggestions were both available during spring 2015 and were affordable.

Through social media posts, the committee has conducted polls to pick who will be best-received.

“We’ve been really intentional in getting feedback from students as we prepare,” Chess said.

As of Friday, there were 500 votes in the group’s main poll, which is being conducted over Google Documents. At that point, four artists were nearly tied for most popular: hip-hop artists Rae Sremmurd, Hoodie Allen and Waka Flocka Flame and the rock duo Twenty One Pilots.

The Homecoming acts — country group Gloriana and rapper Earl Sweatshirt — did not do well at the box office, with only 900 students attending both concerts.

Chess was adamant the poorly-attended Homecoming shows did not factor into the decision to host a spring concert. He said his goal is to sell 1,500 tickets, but he would love for the show to sell out, which would amount to 3,000 tickets.

“It’s not related to the Homecoming concert; it’s a different event,” Chess said.

Jesus Barreto, who is a part of the management team for the show, said those planning the concert were inspired by events at other schools.

“We looked at events we had done in the past few years, and at what other schools had been doing,” Barreto said. “We realized that some of the coolest events that have gone down have been outdoor concerts ... we decided that the outdoor atmosphere matched more the mood of spring and summer getting closer.”

Barreto said the group can’t afford Beyonce.

Freshman Katelyn Hill said the choice of artist would weigh heavily in her decision to attend the spring concert.

“I like a wide variety of music — just not country,” Hill said.

Barreto hopes the concert will be more than just a night of music.

“I think it’ll be a really cool event that, once we all graduate, we’ll still look back and remember as hopefully one of the best memories here at UNC,” Barreto said.

university@dailytarheel.com