The lineup for Friday's Spring Fest concert is set, and with half of the available public tickets already sold, Student Association officials are expecting the night to be a big one.
Headlining the annual concert are alternative rockers Our Lady Peace, with soul-funk's Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Live, and Battle of the Bands winner Kick Williams.
As of Thursday night, 721 of the 1,500 available public tickets had already been sold through the Alumni Arena box office and the Tickets.com Web site, according to Mark Rosenblitt, SA entertainment coordinator. That doesn't include student tickets, which are free to 5,000 undergraduates at the Alumni Arena doors Friday night.
"That's a high number for presales, one of the higher numbers I've seen," Rosenblitt said on Thursday. "We usually get about 400 presale, so this is pretty big. Based on that, I'd expect general public sellout. We're probably going to have to turn people away at the door, actually."
These high ticket sales should balance out the money SA is spending on the event, with roughly $125,000 going to talent and $40,000-60,000 going to production. These numbers are in line with what SA has spent on more recent Fests.
"This wasn't a package deal, but it's pretty much on par (with past costs)," said SA President Dela Yador. "It's cheaper than Kanye West was, and he was cheap for the deal we got. It's pretty much going to be on par with the last couple of Fests, even including Snoop. We haven't exceeded $150,000 in the last three fests, so it's pretty cool."
Fest headliner Our Lady Peace is a platinum-selling band, but might not be considered as current as acts like Kanye West or Incubus. The band has a reputation as a former indie-darling, but was one of the biggest alternative bands of the late '90s. OLP's biggest draw might be that it is local - the group formed in Toronto and has long been a top draw in Buffalo.
The band's first break came with 1994's "Naveed," but had their biggest hits with 1999's. "Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch." More recent releases have kept OLP on the radio, and they have consistently sold out concerts in the Buffalo area.
Live was one of the best selling bands to come from the end of the grunge movement, with two number one albums on the Billboard charts. "Throwing Copper," their second album, was by far their biggest, with "Lightning Crashes" being one of that year's biggest singles.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band might be the least known act on the bill, but they are probably the biggest crossover act to take the stage. While they hail from a soul and funk background, Randolph and his band have cred almost every genre imaginable. They won over the jam set by performing wildly popular sets at Bonnaroo and touring with Dave Matthews Band. They attracted the jazz set with work with the avant-jazz organist John Medeski. They even have the respect of country fans - after all, steel slide guitar is Randolph's specialty.
Critics have questioned SA's choice to steer away from big-name bands for the 2006 Spring Fest, but Yador said he is confident that students will enjoy the experience.
"It's something that a lot of people have asked. Well, we don't always have to go for big names, so why don't we go for bands who are on the rise," Yador said. "It's going to be a different show for sure. It's going to be a cool show, though, because there will be a little bit of everything. I think at the end of the day, students will really appreciate it. It's definitely different from Kanye, but it's still good stuff."
Despite efforts to stage the concert outdoors at Baird Point, officials decided on Tuesday night that the concert would have to be staged indoors.
"We made the call on Tuesday night, and the weather reports at that point were saying rain in the evening with cold temperatures," Rosenblitt said. "We decided to have it indoors because we need it to be dry during load-out, which goes until about 6 a.m."
Organizers said they had hoped to have an outdoor concert, but the weather simply did not permit that.
"That's a constant thing that happens," Yador said. "I'm always hoping to have at least one of the Fests outdoors. It just attracts more people, there's more space, and more people can get in. We weren't that fortunate this year."
Despite the indoor location, however, Yador said students and community members alike seem pumped for the show.
"A lot of (people in) the general Buffalo community are psyched about it," Yador said. "And a lot of students have said they're going. There's no huge name associated with this show, so it's surprising. But these bands have pretty impressive records behind them, so we'll see what happens."
And judging by the number of tickets that have already been sold, Rosenblitt said SA should be able to turn a profit with Friday night's show.
"Honestly, this is going to be a hard one to gauge. I think it's going to be good though, a very big turnout," Rosenblitt said. "We could possibly have a sellout crowd, which would be nice. I'd like to see that happen. If not, it's probably going to be in 5,000-5,500 range."
Overall capacity for the show is 6,500 total, split between 5,000 student tickets and 1,500 tickets available to the general public.
Tickets are free to undergraduate students with a valid UB ID. For non-students, tickets are $30 and can be purchased in advance on Tickets.com or at the Alumni Arena box office.
Doors open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m.
