Union Board chooses band Sublime with Rome to headline Little 500

Students knew Lil Wayne would be a hard act to follow.

But as rumors of Rihanna, Drake and Kanye West headlining the official Little 500 concert circulated on Twitter and Facebook, fans began to get their hopes up.

Then Union Board announced the main act: Sublime with Rome, featuring the Dirty Heads.

Although some are thrilled with Union Board’s choice, there was an overall reaction of disappointment or, “Who?”, among many others.

Senior Jeff Barrows, also known as DJ Wally Wonder, tweeted “Sublime with Rome? Wtf is Union Board doing to these poor children...smh...”

Sublime with Rome is a collaboration between Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, formerly of the band Sublime, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. Although the group primarily plays songs by Sublime written prior to frontman Bradley Nowell’s death in 1996, the group has produced one album of its own.

Union Board Concert Director Sam Shechtman said that, because the Little 500 concerts in the past few years have mainly been hip-hop and pop shows, the board felt it was important to diversify the acts and reach out to the entire student population.

“However, we are not neglecting the students calling for hip-hop or pop,” he said. “We have Mac Miller and the Cool Kids coming to the IU Auditorium on April 12.”

Union Board directors said they expect Sublime with Rome to be the highlight of the Little 500 concerts.

Doors will open at 8 p.m. and the show will start at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 20, in Assembly Hall.

“We are expecting a large turnout of students with high energy levels, alumni who grew up with this band and other fans from around the state of Indiana,” Shechtman said.

Sublime with Rome played a show at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater in Indianapolis in 2011 that sold over 18,000 tickets. However, the band was opening for 311.

Shechtman said Union Board used the crowd from the 2011 Indianapolis concert to estimate the demand for a show during Little 500.

Because the directors are expecting such a large turnout, they booked the show for Assembly Hall instead of the IU Auditorium — a decision for Little 500 shows that was unprecedented before last year’s Lil Wayne concert.

“The seating at the IU Auditorium would not suffice the amount of tickets wanted by all the fans,” Shechtman said.

However, freshman Clinton Small, who said he is a fan of the band, said he doubts the concert will sell out.

“Whether I’ll go depends on the price of the ticket — if they’re $20, probably not,” he said.

Tickets for the general public are priced at $35.50 to $45.50 and from $20.50 to $44.50 for IU-Bloomington students.

Although Small said he probably won’t attend, sophomore Nicole Scott said she cannot wait for the concert.

“I’m really excited because for a while Sublime wasn’t together, and even though there’s a new lead singer, they’re still one of my favorite bands,” she said.

Scott said she’s sure Assembly Hall will sell out even if students seem disappointed now.

“It’s not a band all the frat brothers can get drunk to, but they’re going to realize what a great opportunity it is,” she said.