SPEC Concerts will host Mayer Hawthorne at this year’s fall concert. Mayer Hawthorne, a soul artist, will play in Harrison Auditorium Oct. 11.
Credit: Julio Enriquez/Creative CommonsMayer Hawthorne will headline the Social Planning and Events Committee’s annual fall concert, SPEC announced Thursday.
Mayer Hawthorne is a soul artist from Michigan who grew up surrounded by the Detroit music scene.
SPEC Concerts Co-Director and Wharton senior Ronnie DiSimone said that although SPEC Concerts typically puts on an indie-rock show, it wanted to take an alternative route with this year’s artist.
“Even if you don’t know his music, the fact that its grounded in Motown sound makes it sound very familiar,” DiSimone said. “You can go to a show not knowing his music very well and still enjoy it.”
The process of selecting an artist was not an easy one. SPEC began with a list of more than 100 artists, and scaled it down based on the dynamic it sought to bring to campus and the artist’s potential to become more popular in the future.
SPEC Concerts Co-Director and College senior Sam Gorski agreed with DiSimone.
“The music is so impressive and he has a sound that can resonate on a larger and national level,” Gorski said. “We decided on him because of his popularity amongst students — based on surveys we took in the spring — and because of his general popularity amongst our age group.”
Pop-rock quartet Cheers Elephant will open for Mayer Hawthorne on Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. in Harrison Auditorium. Tickets cost $10 and will be sold to Penn students beginning Monday at 10 a.m.
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