It’s not Little 500 without some better concerts

Looking out across the landscape of Little 500 week, I can’t but help feel a little dismayed.

It has nothing to do with the rain or the fact that the best college weekend falls a week too early. No, I’m upset because while the assorted parties promise to provide quality entertainment, there is not a single concert I am interested in going to.

Of course, being afflicted by such a middle-class problem as this will not put too much of a damper on the festivities.

It’s something I would just shrug off, but then I realize I can’t be the only one who feels this way. Just take a look at the lineup — Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane (which was canceled yesterday), Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Chiddy Bang, Pretty Lights ... they are all accomplished singers in their own right, but aren’t they also kind of making the same music?

Fraternity and sorority committees have always brought in artists who appeal to their  demographic.

Their shows sate the ear buds of those at IU who favor rap and hip-hop, and the greeks have traditionally done a good job of bringing in big names.

In the past, Union Board has balanced this by inviting indie acts to campus for Little 500. With bringing the likes of The Flaming Lips, Flight of the Concords and Feist, there has existed equilibrium between indie kids and those who go more mainstream.

But that all fell apart this year when Lisa Wagner, Union Board concerts director, announced that Lil Wayne would be performing at Little 500 this year. The figure that Union Board spent on bringing this show to IU hasn’t been released, but with tickets marketed at $49 to $99, it couldn’t have been cheap.

Ticket prices seem even more exorbitant when contrasted to last year’s Little 500 show with The Flaming Lips, where admittance could be purchased at $36 for students.

I was really hoping that this year, being that it is my last Little 500 as an undergraduate here at IU, there would be some really amazing acts that appealed to my taste in music. Unfortunately, the only students who are represented by this year’s crop of concerts are those who are fans of hip-hop.  

­— danfleis@indiana.edu