The second annual OzFest concert will come at a price of $15 for all students after the Student Association and Student Association Programming Board decided to drop celebrity comedian Lil’ Duval from the lineup.
According to SAPB Director Imani Cruz and SA President Emily Nassir, everything came together at the right moment.
While SA and SAPB’s goal was to keep the ticket prices as low as possible, complaints of Lil’ Duvals humor being inappropriate and discriminatory came trickling in from a number of students. This ultimately made SA and SAPB come to the conclusion of dropping him from the lineup and announcing ticket prices during Tuesday night’s Senate meeting, according to Cruz.
“If we brought him here, a lot of women in particular might feel uncomfortable and we don’t want that,” Cruz said.
In replacement of Lil’ Duval, DJ Kobe from HOT 107.9 Syracuse is hosting the concert on May 6 at 8 p.m. in the Marano Campus Center Arena.
“We want to provide students with a more comfortable and judge-free zone when they come to this concert,” Nassir said.
In regards to the price, SA Finance Director Matthew Peters said SA wanted to put on a show that is affordable for students and does not break the bank for them financially.
Last year at the first annual OzFest concert, the ticket prices for a show that included Timeflies, B.oB., Mac Miller and Big Sean cost $45 for students for a limited time. The price then rose to $60. Tickets for non-students were $85.
This year the tickets for students are $15 and the price for non-students is $30 for three artists including Dej Loaf, Rich Homie Quan and Flo Rida. On the day of the show, tickets will increase to $25 for students and $40 for the general public. Tickets go on sale starting April 11 at the box office.
“In determining the price we wanted to get people there and I think the price was way too high last year,” Peters said. “I think it was fair for us and it is fair for the students and for the artists we have, I think $15 is more affordable.”
According to Peters’ records, a total of $422,805.62 was spent on last year’s concert including $167,785.62 out of SA’s reserve account. This year, Peters approximates the concert to cost $280,000 to $285,000, which is about $139,305 less than last year. Approximately $90,000 of that money is out of the SA reserve account with the goal of making $45,000 back into the reserves from ticket sales.
“We are very proud of the difference,” Nassir said. “Last year was the first year that we did OzFest and it was a learning experience. What we learned was how important budgeting is and how we stay within budget. We are very pleased that we not only were able to stay closer to our budget but able to make the price more pleasing and accessible to our students which is what one of the main things that was asked of us as a change for this year and we are happy to say that we were successful in that.”
According to Peters, the amount of money spent on last year’s concert effected how much money SA was allowed to spend on this year.
“We could not have drained our reserve account at the rate that we did last year, it was just absolutely too much,” Peters said.
If they spent closer to what was spent last year on the OzFest concert, the reserves account, which is money saved over years of student SA fees, would be approaching closer to $0 in the next year, according to Peters.
“It is just not smart to spend it all at once, which is why we are trying to make it more incremental,” Peters said. “We could have had the same show although you probably would have not seen another show for the next five years.”
Nassir mentioned the cost of tickets being realistic for students was a top priority.
“When we look at the ticket price, we look at if we can make our money back for the concert and continue the concert for the coming years but we also wanted a low price to accommodate the students,” Nassir said. “Budget restrictions are always there for some people but we think it is going to be a very enjoyable show. We wanted it to be as accessible to our students as possible, the lower we could get the price and the more accessible, the better.”
According to Cruz, the concert price is reliant on the cost of the artists and their crew including everything that they request alongside their performance. This can include specific types of food, furniture and special requests as well as transportation, lodging and production cost.
For this year’s concert, Dej Loaf came at a price of $30,000, Rich Homie Quan costs $50,000 and the headliner Flo Rider costs $115,000.
Like last year the concert plans to start after a day of activities, which includes inflatables, carnival food, a stilt walker and activities with help from the department of Student Affairs.
Last year Student Affairs contributed $50,000 towards the concert. This year they are contributing $25,000.
According to Peters, SAPB was able was able to provide more money for the concert because SA was able to allocate the concert into their budget. Peters hopes to be able to allocate more money to SAPB in the future so the concert money will not have to come out of SA’s reserve accounts.
“I think this show is being underestimated,” Nassir said. “When you combine the ticket price with the popularity of our artists, I am confident that this concert will be successful and that everyone who goes is going to enjoy themselves.”
