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Printer-Friendly ModeUniversity should host more, smaller music shows
February 13, 2006 —
In the past year, the lack of musical events on campus has been quite bothersome. Aside from the music department's annual recitals as well as several other guest performers (both of which do a wonderful job, by the way), we here at Saginaw Valley have been privy to a lengthy dry spell from musical activity on campus.
Last April, rap megastar Ludacris gave a live performance here. The concert was met with much hype, but also came with a major delay due to Ludacris' late arrival (for whatever reason) and a whopping $85,000 dollar price tag that a sold out Ryder Center couldn't even cover, as the performer chose to keep 80 percent of all the merchandise sales, and 100 percent of album sales.
Overall, that was a kind (and greatly appreciated) gesture from the University to its students who had toiled all year with school work, but we can still do better ... much better.
Other schools in Michigan have had wonderful success bringing in several mid-level music acts, as well as comedians and other performers to their campuses.
Take Calvin College, located in Grand Rapids, as an example. There it has, on average, 25 large concerts, as well as 20 smaller concerts per year. That includes bands like Copeland, Switchfoot, and Death Cab for Cutie, as well as hip-hop acts like the LA Symphony. This is all done with a budget of $65,000. That is $20,000 dollars less for 25 concerts and other programs than we spent for one.
Further, as Calvin's Director of the Student Activities Office Ken Heffner says, "[Although] we spend usually three times that amount, tickets sales pay for most of our series."
Calvin's concerts are held in a 1,200-seat theater. Compare that to the 5,000-plus students who can fit into the Ryder Center, or the Rhea Miller Recital Hall, which the SVSU Web site labels "...the region's premier performance theatre for concerts." If we have these wonderful facilities, why fill them not only with poetry readings, lectures, and other fine art performances, but also with popular music acts that the students will enjoy?
Shows like these would not only draw a large audience from the student body, but also would bring people from the surrounding areas as well. For many towns in the Saginaw Valley and Thumb Area, Saginaw is the only large city that is capable of providing such entertainment.
Moreover, the type of publicity generated for the school from a concert series would also help draw in high school seniors looking for a fun place to go to college.
An upcoming Battle of the Bands is in the works for sometime in March, thanks to the Cardinal Broadcasting Association. This is a definite step in the right direction. Not only are they providing students with quality entertainment, they are also giving several local musicians a superb opportunity to showcase their skills and talents.
Saginaw Valley is full of students who would patron such events. We are not asking for the school to give us 25 concerts a year; that seems like a pipe dream. But we need to look into this matter further.
Bringing in the right type of performers (not ones who take nearly all the earnings from their show), selected by the students, would raise student morale and bring a more positive attitude toward both the city and the University.