Although the spring 2020 Jubilee concert was postponed due to COVID-19, the show must go on —virtually. The Carolina Union Activities Board will host rapper Rico Nasty and singer DaniLeigh in the first ever virtual Jubilee concert this Saturday.
Jubilee is an annual spring concert hosted by CUAB that brings recording artists to the University. Current students and 2020 graduates will have the opportunity to attend this year's Jubilee from the comfort of their own homes and dorms at no cost to them.
The decision to reschedule this concert in a virtual format was made for multiple reasons. Sarah Bradley, CUAB president, said CUAB wanted to maintain positive relationships with the agencies and artists that they worked with, as well as offer this experience to current students and 2020 graduates.
“It was going to be (the spring 2020 grads') last Jubilee and we really wanted to be able to get the concert rescheduled so that they would have a chance to go,” Bradley said.
Jubilee will provide students with a live concert experience, allowing both artists to each have a 30-minute set. Bradley said the structure of this virtual concert was created to avoid Zoom fatigue.
“We’ve heard from other schools that very long concerts aren’t preferable, so the concert won’t be too long,” Bradley said. “We’re really excited to be able to provide those sets that are really engaging and have both the artists and students be able to engage in the virtual format.”
This year's Jubilee will also be the first time two women are headlining the event. Kennedy Byrd, a junior studying media and journalism, said that this is one reason why she will be attending the concert.
“It's super cool that this is the first time that two females are headlining it,” Byrd said. “That's also an incentive.”
Byrd said she is also interested to see how this virtual concert will affect the real concert-going experience.
