Rate My Spring Concert

It's about that time of year. Universities are announcing their spring week concerts where students typically get a rare chance to see relatively big acts for relatively cheap. It's sort of a perk. From my college experience, spring concerts were met with disappointment and jealousy of nearby schools getting more relevant acts.

Two years ago, my school was able to land the highly coveted act Lifehouse, despite the fact that they haven't been popular since 2001. Last year we got Busta Rhymes, which wasn't awful, but again he didn't put out a worthwhile album since the late 90s. Although to CCSU's credit, he did have a hit in 2006.

This brings us to this year. What school flopped and what school actually got it right? Before I get to that I want to just throw out the question and if someone can answer it that would be wonderful. Who picks these acts? I know it is the students, but I just imagine some grad student in their mid-20s thumbing through her out of touch CD collection when these bands are picked.

The Winner: Brown University
Holy shit. Leave it to the rich and intelligent kids to pull off this. Day one, which is April 11 but don't worry tickets are sold out, is Lupe Fiasco AND Vampire Weekend. If I ever attending a school that featured a song and a half with either of those acts I would be happy. But wait, there's a day two. April 12 brings in M.I.A. AND Girl Talk. I don't think I need to go on about how great that weekend is. And the whole weekend comes in at $27 total for students. Someone knows how to plan a spring weekend at Brown. You have sweet, big name, expensive headliners and then fairly cheap, but just as amazing opening acts. You win. A+.

The Losers: Everyone else
I'm almost kidding, but here's a run down on some of the other local colleges I've gotten wind of so far and if you know of any other's -- whether they are worth noting or worth making fun of -- please leave a comment.

The University of Connecticut
I'm giving UConn a big C- on this one with the ability for a retake if something else is announced. Their site says no announcement until March 24, but I already heard Jason Mraz (known strictly for "The Remedy" and his appearances on VH1's I Love the 90s) was going to be there. A photo of him, what looks to be a comedian that I don't recognize and another (presumably) worthless act rounds out this spring concert. For a university that has had the likes of Nas just a couple years ago and are known for bringing in solid acts, this is a big step backwards into the land of state schools.

Speaking of...
CCSU
I'm going to give Central a B- just for actually being relevant believe it or not. You may hear the bill Fabolous and OneRepublic and cringe, but both have had hits in the last 12 months or so. Also, "Apologize" is great in a radio-type of way. CCSU is usually the one to book a band like OneRepublic 5-6 years after their hit single, so congrats on not completely blowing this one.

ECSU
Here we go! Eastern "pulls a Central" bringing in Third Eye Blind, though if we want to be fair Third Eye Blind is a bit more on the relevant side than Lifehouse. There will be plenty of people who eat this up, but it still deserves a C.

I didn't see any information on SCSU or WCSU. Feel free to pass it on.

Wesleyan University
Now to the private schools with inevitably more money and therefore better concerts. If you check our calendar you'll see this school is doing A LOT of good things. Beach House next month for one and if I confirm YACHT is the YACHT I know and love, then that will be another one. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but The Cools Kid's MySpace says they will be at the school on May 7. If that's the start or even the end of the spring concert then I can already hand over an A-.

No news from Trinity or University of Hartford, but Trinity will be holding their International Hip-Hop Festival on April 4-6. I don't believe that counts as their spring concert, but it is free and is in that time frame, so I'm tossing it out there.

Sacred Heart is bringing in Ne-Yo and T-Pain, which has to be given the same grade as CCSU, a B-, just for being relevant. It's not a good lineup by any means, but it isn't Lifehouse or Reel Big Fish. Yale is bringing in some hip-hop, apparently. But no news on who yet. No word on Fairfield U. Or Clark University, Holy Cross, WPI or URI for that matter. So yeah, anything in the Providence, lower Mass., Connecticut area that I missed let me know.