Many celebrities have come to play for IU audiences throughout the years, but things don't always go as planned. We searched the Indiana Daily Student and Arbutus archives to get the big picture of IU’s live music history. Here are some of the most interesting recent moments.
DMX – The story has many versions and has been hotly debated, but the facts are this: DMX got to Lambda Chi Alpha late for his 2008 Little 500 concert, pushing the show beyond the noise ordinance cutoff. The cops showed up, confrontation ensued, and private security officers maced the people closest to the stage.
Tundra Music Festival – The much-hyped fest was supposed to include “Birthday Sex” boy Jeremiah as well as Jadakiss and a slew of DJs, but ended up being canceled a few days before its scheduled date. The weather forecast was cited as the official reason, but talk was that student disinterest and lagging ticket sales were the real cause for cancellation. The concert’s organizers also said they thought twice once they found out they would be responsible for the damages to the field between Foster Quad and North Jordan Avenue, where the concert would have taken place.
Fabolous - The rapper canceled his 2009 Homecoming show at Sigma Alpha Mu at the last minute because of a family emergency. Attempts to pull in Twista as a replacement didn't pan out. Instead, the crowd was treated to an extended set by opening act Wiz Khalifa.
Kimya Dawson— The indie-folk singer best known for her work on the “Juno” soundtrack performed at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in November 2008. In addition to her more traditional music, Dawson played several songs from her children's album, Alphabutt, including “Pee-Pee in the Potty.”
Girl Talk - 2007: His performance at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater incited some rowdy audience members, already hyped up from earlier performers like DJ Flufftronix, to rush the stage and send people as well as speakers surfing over the crowd. Chaos and technical difficulties put a temporary stop to the show until order was restored. 2009: The infamous Victoria's Secret concert, which took place in the rain, converted Dunn Meadow into a mud pit. But the event was considered a success and raised $5,000 for Middle Way House. Victoria's Secret agreed to pay for the damages and the field was re-sodded soon(ish) after.
Nelly - A miscommunication between Jake's Nightclub and the rapper's people resulted in a delayed show last October. Apparently Nelly thought he was there to host the party, while ticket-buyers thought he was there to perform. In the end, he obliged, but he didn't take the stage until almost 1 a.m., claiming he had been "booty-trapped" into performing. Nelly was also the official Little 500 performer in 2001, but the majority of the performance time was filled by four opening acts. Nelly himself was on stage for a whopping 25 minutes.
