In the hours since the Social Planning and Events Committee announced DJ Girl Talk as this year’s Spring Fling headliner, students’ responses have been swift and many.
About 24 hours after the announcement, 48 percent of the 1,700 respondents in an informal Daily Pennsylvanian poll said they were “very disappointed” with the selection. 31 percent said they had “never heard of Girl Talk.”
Upset students took to social media as well, unleashing a torrent of posts about SPEC’s choice and protesting this year’s Fling lineup. Some went as far as setting up Facebook event fundraisers — like Dimes for Diplo — to get new artists to come play instead of the DJ.
Others showed their frustration via Twitter. A user named “@RaphPransky” tweeted, “@dailypenn @UPennSPEC They’re a few hours early for April Fools…” in regards to the announcement, which came on the evening of March 31.
Engineering senior John Vogel was not happy with the choice, “I don’t know anyone who wants to go and I personally do not want to go,” he said.
“A bunch of people are already buying their tickets for Alesso,” Villanova University’s concert artist on the same weekend, Vogel added.
Despite the initial public outcry, by the next day, some students’ emotions seemed to have cooled.
“I’ll still grab floor tickets,” Wharton freshman Sam Harris said. “There are bigger names, and not to have that big headliner, that’s a little bit disappointing. But I’ll give it a shot.”
Others scorned the large outcry over the announcement, calling it an overreaction.
College junior Nicole Grabowski said, “I thought it was a good artist, and I don’t know why everyone’s blaming SPEC. Honestly, how many people remember the concert?”
“I think if people start listening to Girl Talk again and watching his sets, people will see it’s a fun, fun concert. And Fling’s a fun time,” she added.
Because this year’s announcement came a bit later than usual, rumors about the artist choice abounded among students. Many speculated artist cancellations or other contract trouble involved with the process.
SPEC declined to comment on the process of the Fling artist selection for this year.
Wharton senior and SPEC Concerts Director Ronnie DiSimone said yesterday, “People are aware that we’ve had some difficulties with the contracting, and it hasn’t been a very easy year for us. At the least, it’ll definitely be a fun concert.”
“I think we have to realize [SPEC] was probably put in a tough position. It seems like they hustled, and they got a good artist. We’re all part of student groups, we know what a tough job it is,” said College sophomore Brandon Gleklen. “This might even be a better show than last year, since for Tiesto you really had to be on the floor. I feel like this will be more fun for everyone.”
[View the story “Girl Talk for Spring Fling 2013” on Storify]
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