Program Council didn’t ‘Nail’ it this year.
After announcing the artists for the spring concert last Friday, students were quick to voice their opinions.
While Program Council boasts that Gavin DeGraw and David Nail are well-known artists, much of the student body would disagree — at least about the latter.
“Compared to the last couple of artist like Guster and Girl Talk, even though he didn’t play, this year was a big disappoint,” senior Pierce Jordan said. “I don’t even know who David Nail is.”
Jordan’s discontent with this year’s choice resonated amid the majority of students.
“I don’t know who David Nail is and I don’t care for Gavin DeGraw,” William Floyd, a senior, said. “I don’t think many people will go.”
“It’s a horrible choice,” junior Toshica Rathore said.
According to Rathore, DeGraw isn’t a favorite among SMU students. In her opinion, a pop-artist would be a better fit.
“I would like Drake,” she said. “I think Program Council needs to bring in some hip-hop or pop.”
Though Program Council did not get the rap artist Drake for the spring concert, he will be performing at University of Texas at Arlington on March 2.
Last year, when Program Council announced that Ke$ha, who most would categorize as a pop artist, was performing, both faculty and students were hesitant to have a “popular” artist at SMU.
“People complained about how trashy and ‘talentless’ Ke$ha is,” senior Tori Spickler said.
Due to her reputation and controversial lyrics, Evening Programs Initiatives Contributions (EPIC) denied funding for last year’s spring concert. EPIC belived that Ke$ha would promote activities that are against its goals, such as drinking.
Program Council has applied for EPIC funding this year, but does not expect to hear back from them until next week, at the earliest. They did, however, receive less money from Student Senate than previous years. A smaller budget is only one factor when it comes to coordinating schedules with artists.
“It’s hard getting artists no matter who it is,” Spickler said.
Though Spickler wasn’t overly thrilled about the artists, she is still looking forward to the concert.
“I like Gavin DeGraw, but I don’t know of David Nail,” she said. “It should be fun anyway — It’s cool finding new music.”
Junior Corinne Matthews agrees.
“I think people are generally pleased about this year’s choice,” she said. “They’re not overly excited, but nobody seems incredibly disappointed.”
Yet, the number of students who have said they are attending the concert on Program Council’s Facebook page is significantly smaller than last year. Currently, only 294 students have responded ‘yes’ compared to the 2,520 people who said they were attending Ke$ha last year.
