Grammy nominated band, The Fray, to perform in April
By Jodi Guglielmi
Every semester the Student Activities and Campus Engagement team has the difficult task of finding the perfect band or artist to perform at the spring and fall concerts on campus.
The announcement is highly anticipated by the students, as this is one of the largest and most popular campus events.
“I always look forward to finding out who we will be seeing at the concerts. We all try to make our predictions before the announcement is made,” said senior Katelynn Barr, who has attended every concert on campus during her time at HPU.
While to students the decision appears to be effortless, Hillary Kokajko, the director of Student Activities and Campus Engagement, explained the behind-the-scenes work that goes into booking a band.
To start with, they ask students for their thoughts on performers.
“Ultimately, the decision is made by the students, with the feedback and details from all the different outlets. We listen to your suggestions and are excited to make them a reality,” said Kokajko.
Facebook is one way that the school polls students in order to find out who they would be interested in seeing at the concert. HPU also collects information from different student groups such as Campus Activities Team and the InterResidence Hall Council in order create a diverse list from as many different students as possible.
“Over 30 people commented on the post asking who we would be interested in seeing at the spring concert. There were so many different ideas being posted that we all had no idea how the school was going to choose,” said freshman Luke Rogers about a post on Facebook, seeking suggestions for bands.
“There is a lot that goes into the search. It begins with the date that we would like the concert to be on, then availability of a band, last but not least the cost of the band,” said Kokajko.
The search can take months because certain bands may be on tour or out of the country on the concert date. After finding out if the desired band is available, Kokajko submits a “payment offer” for the date of the concert. Usually, they give the bands two weeks to respond before they start looking for other available bands.
“They always seem to wait until the expiration date [of the offer] to let us know,” said Kokajko.
On Jan. 9 at the winter activities fair, it was announced that pop/rock band The Fray will be performing at the 2012 spring concert. This big-name band came as a pleasant surprise to even the Campus Engagement team.
“We were looking into them for the fall concert as well, so they actually came to us wanting to know our spring concert date. This had never happened before!” said Kokajko.
Not only did The Fray reach out to the school but they responded to the offer the same day as well, which had never happened before either.
Students have been expressing their excitement for the upcoming concert since the announcement was made.
Conner Hall, a freshman was ecstatic when he first heard the news. “I read the announcement in an email and I couldn’t believe it! I saw The Fray perform in high school and it was so much fun. I am really looking forward to seeing them on campus; it’ll be a different experience being with new friends and especially a smaller venue. We will all get an up close and personal look.”
The Fray will be performing on campus April 21.