Beckstreet’s Beck (Alright!)
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| You can see where the gender confusion lies. |
Penn should offer more than one fall concert each fall. As The Daily Pennsylvanian pointed out, no one knows who Ben Kweller is. They, like the rest of the school, are tired of getting the same emo, acoustic-guitar-playing acts over and over again.
I conducted my own research, and almost no one I talked to knew of his music - zero of the people knew him on a personal basis. Most of the guys said he looked kind of like a chick, but conceded that if he were one he’d be kind of hot.
Now, I’m not saying SPEC shouldn’t have chosen Kweller, but it seems unfair that they only pick artists from a musical genre that sells out shows. For diversity’s sake, they should choose some artists from different genres and some artists who no one wants to see at all .
The only solution I see is for SPEC to put on more concerts each semester. With an endowment of over $4 billion, it’s safe to say that Penn could afford to sponsor tens of concerts. Even if they allotted only half that amount to SPEC, it should be enough to bring in a sufficient number of acts to satisfy a good portion of the student body.
It’s not as if the artists don’t want to come to Philly. Artists as diverse as Common, Hanson (of “Mmmbop fame”), Queens of the Stone Age, Insane Clown Posse, and Bad Religion are playing at the Electric Factory in the next month. A trip to Pollstar reveals that Maroon Five and Fall Out Boy will be playing in the Philly area this semester.
So the question is, why can’t Penn just pay these groups to perform on campus? Why must Penn students venture an entire SEPTA ride to see their favorite group perform? I’ve been to the Electric Factory. It’s a terrible place for a concert. There are no seats. All the while I was listening to Flogging Molly, the crowd jumping around, I couldn’t help but wish the concert was taking place in Irvine with a crowd politely seated.
Maybe if SPEC gets its act together, that wish will become a reality some day. Until then I guess students not interested in Ben Kweller won’t be able to enjoy music.
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September 20th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
This article would’ve done better in the Onion. Every melodramatic or misguidedly sarcastic comment that you made only served to prove the opposite of what you were arguing. If people are mad about Ben Kweller as the choice, why on earth is it a good idea for Penn to waste our money on shows that “no one wants to see at all?” Furthermore, you seem to be missing the point that Philadelphia’s thriving music scene IS the reason Penn can’t always get top notch shows. Why would a successful band accept less money and a lukewarm, seated audience over a real show “a whole SEPTA ride downtown?” Plus, if you’d done any research, you might find out that Common DID perform at a Penn SPEC-trum event a few years ago, as did Kanye West. These events were not on Penn’s campus–because there a few people under the age of 40 that feel that a seat is a requirement for a live concert–but cheap tickets were. Article after article comes out blaming SPEC for one thing after another: if I were on SPEC, I’d be so fed up with comments like yours that you WOULD get Hanson for every show.
September 20th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
does nobody recognize sarcasm when they see it?