Posted: 02/14/07

O.A.R. to play St. Michael’s spring concert
Breaking down the selection process

Sheila Catanzarita | contributing writer
scatanzarita@smcvt.edu

O.A.R. will be playing at the St. Michael’s spring concert on Apr. 27, the Friday before P-Day. Alex Monahan, junior and student association (S.A) co-secretary of programming, has been working on planning the event.

Sophomore Stephanie Bambury, gives the thumbs up to the news that O.A.R. is coming to St. Michael's. ( Sheila Catanzarita, photo)

“I am extremely happy to say that we have O.A.R. coming to St. Mike’s this spring,” he says. “We have been working for a while now to reach an agreement with them, and we have finally done so.”

Senior Christine Hultgren, who is also a co-secretary of programming, and Monahan have hosted or been a part of at least one event every month, he says. Having O.A.R. the weekend of P-Day is going to cause some difficulties financially because the schools needs money to plan activities for the entire weekend, Monahan says. The budget for all of the programming is $100,000.

“This may seem like a lot, but you need to think about all the things it goes into,” Monahan says.

Tickets will be on sale very soon to help finance P-Day. Tickets are $20 for students and $33 for everyone else.

Monahan says O.A.R.’s music is appropriate for the school.

“I can’t explain how excited I am for this because they are a perfect fit for the community and St. Michael’s. We feel this is a nice change from hip-hop and rap which we have had the past two years,” he says.

Mass e-mails, word of mouth, fliers, and posters are some of the ways that the SA advertise for upcoming advents such as concerts, Hultgren says.

Band selection

To select a group to perform, Monahan and Hultgren have to come up with a list of bands that they are interested in. Then they speak to the rest of the executive board about it, Monahan says.

“I can’t explain how excited I am for this because they are a perfect fit for the community and St. Michael’s. We feel this is a nice change from hip-hop and rap which we have had the past two years.” Alex Monahan, S.A co-secretary of programming.

“We present the idea to the student body through an e-mail to see what they think, but it is impossible to please everyone,” he says.

After getting an “okay” from the student body, Monahan and Hultgren tell their agent at Higher Ground and they then put in an offer with the band’s agent. From there, they reach an agreement and plan the concert.

Regulating the event

“It should be a big turnout, not only because it’s around P-Day, but also because it’s such a popular band,” Hultgren says.

With a predicted sold-out show, security will be around to help manage the crowd.

Peter Soons, director of safety and security at St. Michael’s, says security will work it the “best they can.”

“We don’t allow backpacks or alcohol in, but those are issues we sometimes have to deal with,” he says. “We usually commission an athletic team to assist with the crowd control.”

Mosh pits and crowd surfing are two things security is concerned about at these types of events, Soons says.

“Our role is maintaining safety and making sure no one gets hurt,” he says.

A lot of planning and scheduling goes into spring and fall concerts.

“It’s a long process,” says Mark Litchfield, assistant director for conferences and special events. “It’s not just about the money, but we have to work around the athletic team schedules to make sure the gym is free.”

The S.A is the governing voice of the student body. It provides the financial backing and organization of most of the activities that happen on campus. The organization is run by the students and for the students, according to the St. Michael’s S.A. Web site.

“ S.A. decides on who comes and deals with the contract, and we coordinate dates of the shows, the setup and staffing,” Litchfield says.

Students welcome O.A.R.

St. Michael's sophomore Stephanie Bambury says she is looking forward to the spring concert.

“I’m really excited, I love O.A.R.,” she says.

Bambury did not attend the fall concert due to an athletic conflict.

“I had never heard of Recycled Percussion before, I don’t think a lot of people knew about it,” she says.

At the S.A. meeting on Jan. 30, the announcement that OAR was coming this spring was made.

“They kept it a really good secret,” Bambury says.

As for future bands that could be next to perform at St. Michael's, she is unsure of who she would like to see.

“I don’t know, Akon maybe, or Justin Timberlake or my friend’s band Exit2A,” she says.

Junior Molly Cole has already seen O.A.R. perform five times, but is still excited about them coming to St. Michael’s.

“I’m so pumped, we’ve been trying to get them to come here since my freshman year,” Cole says. “I’ve had a lot of fun every concert I’ve gone to of theirs.”

Cole would like to see Gym Class Heroes, or 311 perform next in future concerts, she says.

“But who I really would like to come is the Dave Matthews Band,” Cole says.

Sophomore Scott Hinman has also seen O.A.R. perform. He is not looking forward to it as much as others, he says.

“I’m not that excited because I’ve already seen them play three times, but I’m still going to go,” he says, “I want The Roots to come back and perform next.”

Past performances

School sponsored spring and fall concerts are a tradition at St. Michael’s College. This past fall Recycled Percussion came and performed on Dec. 7.

Monahan says that St. Michael’s was not the only college who had issues scheduling a band.

“We had plans for a bigger concert, but we had difficulty reaching an agreement with the bands,” he says. The reasons varied from not enough money to conflicting issues.”

The University of Vermont was another school that had trouble scheduling a band, and did not have a fall concert, he says.

“The fall season was rough for the industry, especially in Vermont,” Monahan says, “I have learned it is tough to get big names to come here.”

Past bands that have come and performed at St. Michael’s include Train, Blues Traveler, The Roots, and Jurassic 5. Hultgren, has seen bands come and perform at St. Michael’s since she was a first year. She says she is pleased with last semester’s concert.

“There were quite a few people who came to Recycled Percussion this past fall,” She says. “They put on a great show.”