Union Board faces concert decisions

Senior Brett Markowitz likes Bruce Springsteen. Sophomore Elise Ruff wants to see John Mayer.

The Union Board concerts committee has the task of catering to both their interests and those of their tens of thousands of peers on campus. 

“Students don’t really understand the process,” Union Board President AJ O’Reilly said. “It’s tough, but I think the board does a really good job.”

The first step in concert selection is polling the opinions of students, Union Board Concerts Director Sam Shechtman said. He places surveys at events such as the Student Involvement Fair.

At Shechtman’s weekly meetings he discusses the results of the surveys and what genres students want. The meetings are 7 p.m. every Tuesday in the Indiana Memorial Union Board office and are open to all students.

“Hip-hop, rock and country are the top three,” he said.

From there, he makes a big list of popular artists from these top genres. He looks at feedback for their past performances and ticket prices, then starts contacting agents. Planning concerts is all about the availability of the artists, he said.

“We have these strict time lines,” he said. “If you don’t plan a show ahead of time, you don’t get the artists you want.”

Little 500 requires advanced planning since it falls around the last week of April each year.

Concert planning continues while the 2013 Union Board replaces the 2012 Board.

“It’s kind of a gray area,” O’Reilly said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to line up a Little 500 concert before this term ends. If we don’t get anything done, we’re not going to push it just to push it.”

Shechtman is optimistic.

“We are working on the Little 5 concert as we speak,” Shechtman said.

Bringing Lil’ Wayne to campus for “the greatest college weekend” at IU in 2011 was one of the high points of the board, O’Reilly said.

“What happened with Lil’ Wayne was like a miracle for us,” he said. “It was like catching lightening in a bottle.”

For Markowitz, it was the only Union Board concert he paid attention to.

“I know Lil’ Wayne came here, but I don’t know much else about their concerts,” Markowitz said.

Last year, Union Board brought Sublime with Rome for Little 500.

Shechtman said that, because past Little 500 concerts had been hip-hop and pop shows, the board felt it was important to bring in diverse artists and appeal to the entire student population.

The student reaction was admittedly different than the announcement for Weezy.

“It wasn’t negative,” Shechtman said. “It just wasn’t as exciting as Lil’ Wayne. That’s tough to beat.”

Ruff believes Union Board accomplishes its objective of bringing in different artists.

“Overall, they’re pretty good,” Ruff said. “They bring a wide variety.”

Friday, Union Board will present rhythm and blues singer John Legend at the IU Auditorium. Tickets are still available for purchase.

O’Reilly encourages students to voice their suggestions or opinions to Shechtman or the 2013 concerts director, who will be decided on in January.

“We love suggestions,” said Shechtman, “We are here for the students.”