Lacking bands, SPEC cancels Fling concert

Several big-name bands have turned down ffers from SPEC. No other acts are available for the show. Several big-name bands have turned down ffers from SPEC. No other acts are available for the show.This article appeared in the joke issue. Today is the day the music died. For the first time in its 25-year history, Spring Fling will not include a major concert. While the Quadrangle will still play host to a number of area and campus bands, the traditional Hill Field concert has been cancelled, according to Social Planning and Events Committee Concerts Chairperson Alyson Tesler. Tesler explained that the SPEC Spring Fling Committee decided to cancel the April 18 show because SPEC Concerts had failed to book a "big-name" band with less than a month to go before the concert. "The Spring Fling committee was simply unable to find a band in time, and consequently we just won't have a show -- unless you want me to sit on stage and sing tunes from Annie or Guys and Dolls or something," she said. Over the past three months, the Spring Fling committee had attempted to book acts ranging from the Samples, who headlined the concert in 1995, to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan to recent Grammy Award-winner Beck. But some student government members felt that the Spring Fling committee "exuded an air of incompetence" with some of this past week's last-ditch attempts to book a prominent act. "Wouldn't you decide to pull the plug when the committee's trying to get people like the Notorious B.I.G., Stevie Ray Vaughn and the Jerry Garcia Band?" Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Tal Golomb said. Tesler defended the committee's decision to contact such a wide variety of potential acts. "A dead musician's better than no musician at all. We're just trying to put on a show here," she said. The College senior added she and the committee would continue to work to sign a band even though the show has been cancelled in hopes that other SPEC officers would have a change of heart. "I'm pretty confident that the attendees won't even realize who they're seeing with all of the drunken revelry," Tesler said. "So, at this point, we don't care who we get. I mean, just look at how many people are willing to shell out money to see those damn Spice Girls." While Golomb firmly denied that any SPEC officers would change their minds about holding the show, he wondered how Lehigh University managed to draw the Samples, moe. and G. Love for their same-day concert. "Either we're pathetic or the Lehigh Valley's just a more hopping place to have a concert than one of the biggest cities in America," Golomb said. "It's got to be the former." Many students expressed outrage that a major concert will not highlight the "Mother of All Flings." And some went so far as to suggest the InterFraternity Council played a role in stopping a concert from taking place, arguing that SPEC could potentially funnel saved funds to the IFC to pay for fraternity parties. But, as usual, IFC President and College junior Matt Baker disavowed any IFC involvement in such a scheme. "Sure, we sent out an e-mail to the Spring Fling committee asking them to cancel the show and give us the money they would have used to hire a band for parties," said Baker, an Alpha Chi Rho brother. "But really, we don't want their dirty money. I'm content in trying to milk Undergraduate Assembly appropriations for years to come," he added.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.