Students had to run for cover Saturday when it began to rain during the Spring Concert in Alumni Park. Mat Kearney was in the middle of his set when it began to drizzle. Concert officials quickly put the concert on break to see if the rain would cease. Kearney and his band returned to the stage to play two more songs, “Hey Mama” and “Ships into the Night,” until it began to rain and the concert had to be called off.
The Student Programming Board was in charge of putting the concert together with their efforts going back to September. They didn’t anticipate rain and it seemed like the weather was not going to be a problem until the morning of the concert, when the prediction of rain was 30 percent.
“When the drizzle started and my iPhone predicted 30 percent chance of rain for the rest of the day, Amelia and I literally stopped what we were doing and prayed out loud,” senior and the public relations chair of the Board, Veronica Merrick said. “We knew rain wouldn’t stop the concert, but too much rain could. All we could do was pray and hope for better weather.”
The Board tried to make preparations for the weather once it was apparent that rain was a possibility.
“We tried our best to plan ahead and predict what we could do,” senior Amelia Huckins said. “We bought extra tarps and tried to take extra precaution, but the fact of the matter is that the brunt of the storm hit when the concert had already started. We prepared as best we could.”
Huckins explained the difficulties of creating a back-up plan with the difference between planning for indoors as opposed to outdoors.
“There are a limited number of venues on campus on which you can host the concert, really only Alumni Park and Firestone Fieldhouse. There was a volleyball game in Firestone, and we knew that renting concert equipment differs for indoor use versus outdoor use,” Huckins explained.
Although Gym Class Heroes were unable to play because of the weather, the logistics of what this means for the contract agreement are still being discussed.
“Gym Class Heroes was really disappointed that they couldn’t perform, and it wasn’t their decision, but their manager’s. The decision was also made in consultation with the production company we contracted for electrical support, amplification, instrument backline, etc,” Huckins said.
“The Board and Student Activities staff are still working out post-event details with the Artists’ management. It is an industry standard that musicians will be paid regardless of weather conditions, because they do not decide if the concert will be offered at an indoor venue or outdoor venue, such as Alumni Park,” Merrick wrote in an email.
“At this moment, it unfortunately appears that we will not receive any refunds for the concert production or the artists due to the rain. It is a devastating disappointment for all the students and staff who worked so hard on the event for nearly a year, but we know that it was something completely out of our control,” Merrick added.
As to what this means for students and their tickets, the Board is unable to give refunds.
“I’m disappointed along with everyone else that the concert didn’t turn out the way we expected, but I’m grateful we were able to see Mat Kearney perform. I’m very appreciative that the Pepperdine community came out to see the concert. Their support means a lot to [the] Board and me,” Huckins said.
Merrick agreed with Huckins: “When you plan something as big as this for your school since September, and it all comes crumbling down the way our concert did, without any fault of your own … it’s impossible to describe.”
