Jaaason Deruloooo. Pretty soon, Bucknellians will be able to hear live the pop star infamously sing his own name in that tone you all know so well. On October 25th, 2014, co-headliners Jason Derulo and Chance the Rapper will perform at the Gerhard Fieldhouse. With big performers such as these, many Bucknell students wonder how the Bucknell Concert Committee is able to select big artists to come to our school and how they are chosen. As a member of the Concert Committee, I have a “behind the scenes” look at the process.
Don’t delete your email! Take the survey:
At the end of each concert, Concert Committee sends a survey to the student body asking their thoughts on the concert. Did you enjoy your experience? Did you like the artist? We also ask students who they would like to see come to campus next. This year, students responded to our survey saying they wanted a pop artist or “someone they just wanted to dance to!” With these answers in mind, members of the Concert Committee generate a list of artist they think would be popular at Bucknell and who they think would put on a great show.
The middle man:
We then send our generated list of potential acts to our agent (yes, we have an agent). He then tells us who is available and who is in our budget. Our agent also gives us advice on what artists other colleges are looking at or who is popular now/up-and-coming that we should look in to. After looking at who might be available, the Concert Committee puts in a bid for an act (usually two different performers) and we then wait to see if that artist accepts our bid.
Possible obstacles:
So far, this seems like a pretty easy and fluid process—it’s not. Waiting to hear if an artist has accepted our bid usually takes a long time, time that can be spent putting in an offer to another artist. If the artist says no, then we have to go back to the drawing board as they say. Additionally, we have to coordinate with Bucknell to see what dates are available to use Soijka or the field house. Once we have dates in mind, our agent has to make sure the artist is available on this date. Another obstacle is our lovely town of Lewisburg. Lewisburg is a great little town, but if you haven’t already noticed it’s a little inconvenient. Many artists don’t want to come to Lewisburg because it is out of their way, regardless of if they’re on a tour or not.
What to expect this year:
This is a concert you are not going to want to miss! Jason Derulo is bringing his band with him so it will not be a track show. Up-and-comer Chance the Rapper is very talented and interactive with the audience, creating the perfect live experience. So, get ready to wiggle, wiggle, wiggle to trumpets on October, 25th.