Student Programming Board has a history of bringing big-name headliners and up-and-coming bands to Pepperdine’s campus for concerts in Alumni Park and Firestone Fieldhouse.
In 2004 it was Switchfoot. Something Corporate and Jimmy Eat World performed in 2005. Then Jars of Clay and Matt Wertz came in 2006. And during 2007 the Board brought OK Go Augustana Ingrid Michaelson and Matt Nathanson to campus.
However this year has left some students waiting and wondering: What happened to Pepperdine’s concerts?
It has been more than a year since the Board hosted a major concert at Pepperdine. In April the Board confirmed there would be no spring concert – usually one of the biggest Student Activities events of the year.
Senior Dimeil Ushana said he was “pretty upset” last semester when it was announced there would be no spring concert.
“Every year I look forward to the spring concert as a reward for a hard year at Pepperdine said Ushana in the April 3 issue of the Graphic.
Senior Alex Navarro, concert co-chair, said in the spring that the unused concert funds would roll over to their 2008-2009 school year budget.
In the past, the concert committee has been granted a large portion of the Board’s overall budget. The Jars of Clay concert in 2006 cost the Board nearly $30,000, financed with each Seaver student’s $60 Student Activities fee per semester. However, due to a Board decision to redistribute its funds more evenly among its different committees, Navarro and junior Dustin Glentzer, the other concert co-chair, are working with a smaller concert budget than before.
Student Activities Coordinator Jarrett Fisher, said in the past, the Board has spent a great deal of money per student on big concerts.
If you have a concert that costs $40000 … and you only have 400 students in attendance is that really a cost-effective use of student money?” Fisher asked. “So because of that the programming board this year decided they should probably lower the budget for concerts and they should more evenly distribute [the Board’s funds] over all the different committees.”
The Board allots the concert committee 16 percent of its overall budget Fisher said but he could not release the size of the budget itself. Several committees have received more funds with the budget restructuring which gave more money to coffeehouses weekend events like comedy shows and special events like the widely attended Blue and Orange Madness in October.
“We definitely expanded our weekend events budget and our special events budget but I don’t want to say that we took money from concerts Fisher said. But just with this budget year what we decided to do is more equally distribute the funds that typically went to concerts because it was a very significant portion of the budget.”
A year without a major on-campus concert does not mean students have been musically deprived. The Board sponsored a smaller concert featuring the Texas-based band Nelo which performed after Step Forward Day on Sept. 6. Board members also helped with the After Dark concert on Oct. 30 and assisted with some of the planning with the Life Mission Fashion Show and Concert earlier this month. They have also brought musicians to campus for coffeehouses and other events.
Still some students are disappointed there has not been a major concert this year.
“I don’t feel like there’s a valid reason why they can’t just continue to have concerts said junior Zack Singerman, who attended the OK Go and Augustana concert in 2007. He said he thinks other schools such as the University of California Irvine and University of Southern California, have an easier time booking concerts because they are more established venues. It’s a very regular thing for bands to consider those schools as venues Singerman said. So I feel like the more we [have concerts] the more consideration we’ll have with bands doing U.S. tours to want to play here. It’s a combination of bands wanting to play here as well as us pursuing bands that are on tour right now.”
Senior Alina Hardy said she thinks it is good to have a big annual concert but having lots of smaller artists come throughout the year has its advantages too.
“I feel like people acknowledge that [the Board] is still doing a lot to fill the entire semester with activities but also … if a large concert is provided each semester or at least every year it gets more press with the students and I think students would notice it more Hardy said.