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Inside the Spring Concert

Heather Hamilton
Connector Contributor

West coast hip hop sensation Kendrick Lamar will be headlining this April with electro house DJ Steve Aoki opening the concert.

The entire event, start to finish, is the responsibility of one very important group on campus. “We want to bring someone who people will like,” says Campus Activities Programming Association President Kerry Hanafin.

CAPA has been an active organization at UMass Lowell since 1987 and is responsible for putting together major events and activities on campus.

Hanafin joined CAPA her sophomore year as a general member before becoming traditions chair her junior year. Now as president of the organization, Hanafin oversees the process.

While events and activities are commonplace at UMass Lowell, the concerts, which in the past have brought in artists such as Drake, J. Cole and Snoop Dogg, are something students look forward to every year.

Lamar has recorded a critically acclaimed and certified gold album that has sold nearly 700,000 copies to date and performed on Saturday Night Live.

Credentials aside, drawing in the students is still a big factor, who look for a well-known artist, “probably an act that’s popular. And I’d prefer something along the line of rock. But having someone well known would be a big draw,” said junior Kate Muñoz.

It all starts with CAPA.

Typically it is the organization’s goal is to put up one concert per semester. The process begins pretty early, Hanafin says.

She says that planning for the September Lupe Fiasco concert started over the summer break but unfortunately, due to lack of promotional ticket sales, the event was cancelled.

Planning for this year’s spring concert began last semester. To begin the process, CAPA sent out a survey to students through the University’s email account system asking about favorite genres and artists as possible selections for the concert.

“It really made it a lot easier for us,” says Hanafin.

Before this strategy, CAPA would compile a list of possible artists based on input from general members at group meetings. There are typically around 50 students at each meeting.

Hanafin said that the list would then be given to an agent for an appraisal of who was available and at what price.

The agent’s list would then be compared and brought back to the meeting for discussion. Hanafin says that the agent will usually lead the group into the direction of who they think will sell.

This year after tallying the surveys, around 1,000 were completed and returned, the choice was made.

Kendrick Lamar was the leader in the rap category. In terms of genre, the race was much closer, Hanafin said. Rap, techno, and rock were all very close though rap came out on top in the end.

After the artist is chosen, the overall cost of the event must be determined. While the cost depends on the artist, CAPA tries not to exceed a budget of $50,000 per artist.

Kendrick Lamar and Steve Aoki cost $70,000. Both are currently on tour together and are performing as a package deal. Advanced student tickets cost $22 ($27 at the door) and advanced public tickets cost $37 ($42 at the door).

While tickets for the concert are already on sale, CAPA plans to increase promotional advertising. In order to accomplish this goal, Martin Lussier, a member of CAPA’s e-board, works the marketing aspect via Twitter and
Facebook for the event.

“We plan to step it up over the next couple months with promotion tables and flyers,” says Lussier.

Following student ticket sales, and opening up ticket sales to the public, CAPA will typically break even. Hanfin says that past concerts with Drake and J. Cole saw huge turnouts with both events selling out.

She also says that while the artists usually sell, the public is also responsible for buying a lot of the tickets. “We do the best we can to cater to all students’ needs,” says concerts and comedy chair Justin Towner.

Towner has served as chair of the committee since last January and was involved in organizing last year’s spring concert with J. Cole. He says that the experience is really rewarding.

Standing backstage at the J. Cole concert and seeing the crowd in attendance has been a highlight of his time at UML.

“It was definitely one of my proudest moments,” says Towner. Towner also says that the use of a survey to select the concert’s artist made the selection process easier.

However, Muñoz said that she had never heard of the artist until he was announced as the spring concert. “Honesty, I can’t make a judgment about his music, but I am disappointed that there isn’t a more varied selection in the spring concert genre,” she said.

Muñoz also said that the concert has hosted a rap artist for the past two years. “I’d just like some variety,” says Muñoz.

With both Hanafin and Towner graduating this May, someone new will need to take their places as leaders in CAPA. Towner says that as the concert date draws closer, the chairs of each committee will begin to identify people as strong candidates to take over.

Towner says that during his experience in previous years, he followed the example of the past chair of concerts and comedy, recent UMass Lowell graduate Marcela de Melo and tried to adopt a similar style.

De Melo said that as a leader, she was not only responsible for her own duties but also for the responsibilities of others. She also said that current members should get involved and make the most of their experience.

“I think my favorite part was the journey. It was a great self-esteem booster to grow from marketing assistance to the presidency. I enjoyed being able to see what the group needed from a general member perspective, to being able to apply what I thought was necessary for the group to evolve,” said de Melo.

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