Spring break has come and gone. I traveled to London, and although I saw none of my beloved British bands, I did manage to pick up two weeks worth of NME and Q with no import costs attached! But like I said, spring break has come and gone, which means it’s truly the countdown to the real world for my fellow seniors and me. While I’ve learned a great deal during my time at this wonderful institution, there’s one musical mystery that I haven’t been able to put my finger on and it’s been the bane of my existence for some time now.
Spring break has come and gone. I traveled to London, and although I saw none of my beloved British bands, I did manage to pick up two weeks worth of NME and Q with no import costs attached! But like I said, spring break has come and gone, which means it’s truly the countdown to the real world for my fellow seniors and me. While I’ve learned a great deal during my time at this wonderful institution, there’s one musical mystery that I haven’t been able to put my finger on and it’s been the bane of my existence for some time now.
The mystery pertains to the ticket sales of the major concerts on campus, as this week marked the fourth sell-out in a row for the Cornell Concert Commission (CCC). That’s right, the Flaming Lips will be host to 5,000 audience members come Sunday, April 18, and they are the fourth act in a row to do so. However, when I first became a member of CCC in Fall ’06, a sell-out was the holy of holies for the organization. It seemed to occur once or twice every few years, let alone four times in a row! But before I jump into an intellectual reflection on the last four years, let me provide you with a bit of background about myself.
During the 2009 calendar year I was in charge of the Cornell Concert Commission (CCC). Prior to that, from Fall ’06 until Fall ’08, I devoted my everything to the organization so I could learn the ins-and-outs of concert production to hopefully ascend to the helm of the organization. So I think it’s fair to say that I’m an expert in Concert Commission dealings.
As your expert for the time being, I will begin with saying that between 2006 and 2010 there has been a major shift in the way campus has responded to CCC concerts. For the record: When I say CCC concerts I mean purely CCC concerts and therefore I am excluding any and all collaborations done with Dan Smalls Presents, ALANA or CUPB as well as CCC free shows since these concerts have no measure of a sell-out. Upon excluding any collaborative efforts and free shows, we are left with a sample of 10 concerts beginning with the Strokes show the fall of my freshman year until the upcoming Flaming Lips concert that will be happening later this month, the spring of my senior year. So to reiterate, the shift in response to these 10 concerts went from general ambivalence to exceptional thrill within very little time … and I’m not quite sure why.
As a member and a leader of the organization during these four years I know CCC’s promotional tactics haven’t changed substantially –– we quartercarded, we postered, we blasted music, we tabled, etc. etc. etc. –– so the blame for the shift cannot be placed here.
Next, I posed the question, “Why do you think the last four Concert Commission shows have sold out, but the six shows before that didn’t even come close?” as my status on Facebook over the weekend and one commenter responded, “easy, bands that have a wider audience and more obsessed fans.” I personally beg to differ with this response for three reasons. (1) The Strokes came to Barton during their prime (it was a stop in September 2006 on the final tour before they took the extended break that has lasted the span of my Cornell experience). In addition, as far as their fan base goes, I think their obsessives could take on those of the Flaming Lips any day. (2) The All-American Rejects arrived at Barton in Spring 2007 after their album Move Along had spent all of 2006 tearing up the charts with three singles (“Dirty Little Secret,” “Move Along,” “It Ends Tonight”) that also had music videos peaking at #1 on MTV’s Total Request Live. I’m pretty sure wide audience and TRL are synonymous with one another. Plus, OK Go was signed on as the opener. (3) O.A.R. –– Does a band get any more college than O.A.R.? I have nothing more to say on that matter.
Subsequently the fact that these three shows didn’t sell as well as, say, Maroon 5, is still pretty perplexing to me. But I’d love to hear someone argue as to why I’m wrong. Either way, I don’t think talent is the answer.
But what’s left? Price? Can’t be: Excluding Girl Talk, the other three sell-outs have had CCC’s max ticket prices of $20 per student. What about night of the week? Nope: only one of the 10 shows has been on a Saturday (Trey Anastasio), the rest were Sunday nighters. Maybe it’s because of less musical options around town? There’s no way: Dan Smalls Presents has taken Ithaca by storm in the last two years, Fanclub Collective has been pumping out indie shows weekly and the cafes around town are constantly filled with wonderful performers most nights of the week. Could it be the students? Could it possibly be that Cornell has accepted a more musically oriented student body? I just don’t think that’s it and I still have no clue what it is. But I’d love to hear your speculations.
Why was it a struggle to even get 4,000 people into the doors of Barton Hall to see some of the best talent around in ’06, ’07 and ’08 and suddenly 5,000 ticket sales seems like a walk in the park. What shift took place between Fall semester ’08 and Spring semester ’09 that made Cornell into a more music-loving audience? Not that I’m complaining –– in fact I couldn’t be happier that Cornellians are embracing live music now more than ever, I’d just love to know why. Thoughts? Arguments? Speculation? Please, send them my way!
Original Author: Justine Fields