Oswego State’s spring concert lineup was announced Wednesday with a mixed response from the student body. The issues ranged from ticket prices to the musical acts chosen to the date the concert is being held.
Big Sean, B.o.B, Timeflies and Mac Miller were announced as the musical performers on May 8 at the Marano Campus Center Arena. Tickets for students will cost $45, if purchased from March 8-20, and students will only be allowed one ticket at this price. After March 23, ticket prices increase to $60 and students can purchase two tickets in addition to their own at this time. This is only up until the day of the concert, when ticket prices will rise to the general admission price of $85. Student Association senators and officers can go for free.
The concert is being pegged as the first ever Ozfest, not to be confused with Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzfest. It will combat the annual, but controversial, Bridge Street Run pub crawl.
The Oswego State community took to social media to express their thoughts on Wednesday’s big announcement. Reactions ranged from excitement to frustration over the event.
Obviously not every student can be satisfied with the musical choices, not even in a perfect world. However, students have every right to be upset with the price of the tickets. The past two years students paid $10 for tickets for concerts while general admission tickets were $20.
Suddenly, the price of these tickets has gone up 350 percent for students–if purchased by March 23. That’s enough to anger any student on a budget. Selling student tickets at a higher price would make sense if the Oswego area had a lot of people to draw from, like a larger city. For all intents and purposes, this concert is for the students. It should be noted that part of the $97 student activity fee pays for events like this, so students are already bearing some of the costs.
The ticket prices leave a feeling that some sort of profit is being sought for the concert. This is the worst way to look at the spring concert because it is an entertainment event for the students. Also, there was no fall concert in 2014. The fall show tends to be a smaller event, but one that students still enjoy. Money was saved by not holding this concert, but students are still expected to bear higher costs in the spring.
The other issue at hand is that the event is designed as an alternative to the annual Bridge Street Run event. The pub crawl has become a controversial tradition of students on the last day of classes. The concert will not conflict with this as students typically flock to downtown bars during the day. Ozfest will be a combination of Case-a-Palooza, May Day and the spring concert. The other events happening on May 8 may end up being a fun alternative, but most likely they will just be part of the procession off campus.
Despite these issues, students should still be grateful that Ozfest was even conceived. Oswego State officials and SA did not need to chip in and help provide a larger concert. Student Activity Programming Board could have been left to fend for themselves and plan the concert on their own and even then, there could not even be a concert at Oswego State. The money could have been dispersed to other SA organizations instead. At the end of the day, this is all for the students.
