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| Appalachian a cappella
group sings way to national recogition |
Stephanie
Marshall
Entertainment Beat |
Josh Brown | Chief Photographer It is difficult to organize and
match up the dates with the artist’s availability and the
Holmes Center’s availability due to Mountaineer sporting
events, said chairperson of the concert council Monday.
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Here at Appalachian
State University, the majority of the entertainment brought in is
orchestrated through the student program called the Appalachian
Popular Programming Society (A.P.P.S.).
Students enjoy a wide variety of entertainment courtesy of A.P.P.S.,
including concerts.
The majority of concerts, varying in size, are held either in Legends
or Farthing Auditorium. Concerts held in the George M. Holmes Convocation
Center are few and far between, with only a handful occurring since
the venue’s opening. |
“Our
luck in the Holmes Center is poor,” Director of Student Programs
David L. Robertson said Dec. 12.
As director of student programs, Robertson is in charge of W. H.
Plemmons Student Union, Legends and A.P.P.S.
Therefore, the question remains: Why have so few concerts been held
in what would seem to be a perfect concert atmosphere?
The difficulty does not lie with the convocation center, but the
process A.P.P.S. goes through trying to bring concerts to the center.
This issue is not simple, with more than one obstacle for A.P.P.S.
to overcome.
Within A.P.P.S. there is specifically the concert council, which
deals with bringing in bands and setting up concerts at Appalachian.
This council meets and decides on what students would enjoy.
One of the general rules about bands that A.P.P.S. maintains is
that bands must have been around for at least five years and have
three successful albums, Robertson said.
The reason for this rule is that bands with one popular song usually
jump their prices up, Robertson said.
After the concert council selects the acts they wish to book, their
advisor, Randall M. Kelly, calls the entertainment agencies and
sees if the bands they want are on tour, Robertson said.
Usually, after talking to the agencies, A.P.P.S. rules out bands
not on tour or are only going to major areas and cities, Robertson
said.
Then, after the group narrows down the choices, they settle on a
couple of bands that allow them to break even or make up for the
money spent on bringing the show to Appalachian, Robertson said.
A.P.P.S., like every other student program, must watch their budget,
so part of the reasoning is financial, Robertson said.
After this, A.P.P.S. sends e-mails to book the bands, giving them
the specific dates the convocation center is free for student programs
to use, which is not easy due to sports events, equaling only 20
to 30 dates in the spring, Robertson said.
“It’s difficult to organize and match up the dates with
the artist availability and the Holmes center’s availability”
said Joey Bullock, chairperson of the concert council, Monday.
Bands plan their tours geographically and tend to go where they
will make the most money, Robertson said.
Boone is a not a good place for bands because there is “no
market demographic” beyond the show, plus it is not on the
way to any big city, Robertson said.
In addition, the weather is not helpful; bands do not want to deal
with shows cancelled by snow or weather problems, Robertson said.
Appalachian does have one advantage—Legends, which is special
because no other school has a nightclub and the privilege to allow
those of age to have beer at the events, Robertson said.
We hope to bring in two or three bands for the spring semester to
the Holmes Center this year, but we will be lucky if we get one,
Robertson said. |
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