Opinion: CUAB should make Jubilee great again

Last year, it was no secret how this board felt about the death of the Homecoming concert and the subsequent choice of country singer and UNC graduate Chase Rice for the Jubilee concert.

To be fair, some students thought Rice was a fine choice.

While we stand by our words, we hope the lessons learned from last year can lead to better concerts for years to come. The students of this University deserve it.

Carolina Union Activities Board, we want to make it right this year.

Instead of waiting until next semester to blast whatever choice you make, we thought it would be best to go on record now with our thoughts.

We appreciated seeing a survey sent out asking for students’ genre preferences, and hope it is taken to heart.

It would be nice to have the survey results published, just to see how many students wanted each genre.

Once a genre is picked, we trust you to pick the artist.

We get that having a shiny name attached to the concert can look good on posters, but it does not always ensure the best concert experience.

A potential safe bet could mean securing a big-name artist like Aaron Carter, who came to Cat’s Cradle last winter, but an artist in his mold would probably be the worst choice for Jubilee.

Despite being well-known, Carter’s most successful ventures were a decade ago, and they weren’t that good to begin with.

Furthermore, wouldn’t it be nice to have one or two lesser known artists with a ton of potential come and perform a set?

And if they go on to make it big, then students can say, “I saw them for only a few bucks.”

There are certain places where CUAB could look, such as the NPR Tiny Desk concerts, to find a talented artist who is on the rise.

While not all of these artists are household names, they are often very talented, and with the right promotion, they could give a great concert for the Carolina community to enjoy.

No matter who is picked, the venue can make a world of difference. Weather permitting of course, outside is better than indoors — especially given that it is a spring concert.

Ultimately, this concert will be one of the last UNC events seniors have before graduation.

And it is a great time to de-stress before the upcoming exam season.

A lot is riding on spring Jubilee, and that is why we are so concerned about it.

We know picking the artist is a difficult task, and we appreciate CUAB for taking it on.

Just please, give us something to be proud of.

We want a concert that will make students 30 years from now say, “How did they get them to come?”

CUAB, let’s make it happen.