The Activities Commission will host its annual spring concert featuring headliner MGMT on Sunday April 28 in Kuhl Gymnasium, with ticket presale starting March 10. The opening act has yet to be determined.
MGMT, Geneseo’s second most requested artist in a list of financially feasible headliners, is known for such singles as “Kids,” “Electric Feel” and “Time to Pretend.” AC Concerts Coordinator junior Jenny Keller said the band cost $80,000 to book and added that the $30,000 budget increase that AC received in November helped to make this possible.
According to Keller, AC began work on choosing a concert headliner early in the fall semester, tabling the first week of classes to gauge students’ musical interests. In early October, Keller sent out the spring concert survey, which she said included a list of musical acts based on student feedback and information from concertideas.com, AC’s middle agent for booking artists.
Keller said she compiled the survey results and found that while MGMT ranked number six of all the artists in the survey, after she cut the list down to artists feasible to bring to Geneseo, MGMT fell at number two behind The Fray.
“[I] want to stress that they’re within the top 10. I think a lot of people think that their votes don’t matter, but they do,” she said.
In November, Keller requested a $50,000 budget increase from Student Association to supplement the $75,000 already allocated to the concert budget, and ultimately received $30,000.
According to Keller, in addition to the artist’s fee, other expenses include agent commissions, sound, stage and technical support, backstage passes, University Police charges, event assistance coverage, hospitality and publicity. AC is also starting with a negative income line of $40,000, which Keller said she expects to make back in full through ticket sales.
Keller said that “even without the opener, the show should be able to sell out just on MGMT alone, and I believe it will.”Though MGMT’s contract is fully executed, Keller said she is still searching for an opening act and expects to sign a $20,000 contract before the end of March.
According to Keller, MGMT’s management must preapprove the opener. As a result, she is working with concertideas.com to find bands they have previously toured with. In addition, she said she is taking suggestions and advice from the AC executive board in terms of who to consider booking.
Looking ahead, Keller said she is excited to put on a spring concert that will give students a chance to unwind.
“During the concert, students should expect to have a great time and to relax … before finals start,” Keller said. “It should be an enjoyable experience, and I will be collecting feedback from [students] afterwards to be incorporated into the concerts position next year.”
Presale tickets will be available on Sunday March 10, at the SA Ticket Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday of that week, tickets will be on sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Students will have the opportunity to purchase one student-priced ticket at $20 and one public-priced ticket at $40. Faculty, staff and administration tickets will cost $30.
The following week, tickets will go on sale to the general public, with no limit as to how many tickets one person can buy. In addition, ticket sales will open online at the ticket office website. There will be a total of 2,700 tickets available.