This semester, the Student Activities Board aims to follow the success of last spring’s concert—which featured rapper Ludacris and band Grouplove—with a bigger and better experience.
Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium will be the venue of choice for the second year in a row, as SAB officials find it to be the best location on campus to accommodate the amount of students expected to attend the concert.
The group has also selected two possible dates for the concert—Thursday, April 17 or Monday, April 21.
With a budget of $200,000, the board hopes to boost the typical concert lineup to three headlining artists. By doing so, the event’s show time will be extended from a three-hour set to a four-hour one, running from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The board is also looking to include student DJs to perform between set changes during the concert to keep the event’s energy high.
Because Stony Brook is still in the process of submitting bids to artists, a list of the 18 possible performers was not released.
According to Committee Chair and Vice President of Student Affairs Garry Lachhar, this is to prevent any speculations or excitement which in turn could be used by artists as an excuse to drive up their performance fee.
The decision to withhold the list also eliminates the possibility of student-generated rumors, such as last year’s controversy where a fake poster promoting the hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse made its way around Facebook and generated considerable buzz among the student body.
At the meeting, SAB seemed to be leaning toward an artist of the EDM or hip-hop genre—three of each were listed as top-priority acts and the rest of the list consisted of mostly other lesser-known hip-hop and electro acts.
Another big event to come this spring is the 25th anniversary of the Roth Pond Regatta. SAB reported during this week’s meeting that it has worked extensively to make it the biggest celebration of its kind yet.
After a vote, the board finalized a list of seven possible themes—1989, mobile applications, the Internet, the future, television, video games and a previous regatta theme to honor the anniversary.
The final theme will be determined through a student survey conducted by the board.
An addition to the regatta rules, SAB voted to ban self-motorized boats from competing due to an issue surrounding last year’s race. The winning group had members of the now defunct swim team to push their boat in addition to using paddles.
Meeting in brief:
Humans vs. Zombies has begun its registration process. The organizers believe at least 600 students will sign up for this year’s tournament.
Student organization RockYoFaceCase approached the SAB board looking for more collaboration for their campus showcase series at the University Café
