For the first time since spring of 2008, the Thursday Concerts in the Plaza series is back with a full lineup. And with artists ranging from reggae to indie, Associated Students Inc (ASI) plans to bring unique up-and-coming artists to the newly renovated University Union (UU) Plaza.
Due to the UU Plaza renovation, last year’s concerts were held at Campus Market. Although a few concerts were held at the new UU stage once construction ended last spring, this quarter marks the first full lineup. ASI Programs Coordinator Missi Bullock said she anticipates a new excitement from the students.
“It’s just a new energy because of the openness and different environment that the new plaza renovation creates,” Bullock said. “We always had concerts in the plaza in the past – it’s just bringing it back but with a new feel.”
ASI is kicking off the series Thursday, Sept. 23, with Nada Rasta, a local reggae band that won ASI Cal Poly’s local band night in spring 2010 and New Rock 107.3’s Battle of the Bands. Keyboardist and singer Nathaniel Wallace said the openness of the new stage creates a fun playing environment.
“It’s a great new view that they’ve got there with the front stage,” Wallace said.
Additionally, because of the band’s high energy, Wallace predicts that students won’t even have to come all the way to the Plaza to hear their rock-heavy reggae sound.
“They probably won’t have to stop by to hear us – we are kind of loud,” he said. “We’re a really fun band to be around. We’ve got a lot of Sublime covers, so we can get the people to sing along.”
Also fulfilling Cal Poly’s affinity toward reggae is the Hawaiian-based band Iration, who will performing on Nov. 4. Musical Entertainment Student Supervisor and business senior Jacki Iwanski, who is in charge of finding and booking bands, said she thinks the reggae acts will attract the most fans.
“People really like reggae, so I’m expecting the biggest crowd for that one,” she said.
When planning out the schedule of performers, Iwanski said she looks for smaller bands that will still satisfy the general Cal Poly musical taste.
“I try to get in between bands that are up and coming but have a little bit of name recognition, so that at least a couple hundred people will show up,” she said.
Band selection, however, is not solely influenced by Iwanski, or even ASI. Iwanski said surveys handed out during previous ASI concerts are considered fully when deciding which artists to book.
“We give out the surveys and actually take what people say into consideration,” Iwanski said. “We look at what people generally like and pick music that fits with everyone.”
Students can also expect performances this fall from Portland-based indie band Blind Pilot, acoustic singer-songwriter Trevor Hall, Santa Cruz natives Matt Masih & The Messengers and former Cal Poly student and folk-rock singer-songwriter Chase McBride.
Iwanski said the requests made on the surveys greatly influence her decision making process.
“Reggae, singer-songwriter and alternative are the top ones people like. So I try to mix it up in those three categories,” she said.
Aside from the opinions of students, the budgetary restraints also affect the bands that ASI can feature. Bullock said that the funds for ASI are directly influenced by student enrollment.
“We had to cut our budget by 10 percent because of the 10 percent enrollment decrease,” Bullock said. “ASI is directly affected by enrollment and that’s the way that our budget works because we’re funded by student fees. So when there’s less students, there’s less money.”
However, Bullock said she feels students won’t notice a lack of anything in regard to the concert series.
“We’re still programming a lot, we’re just doing it in a different way,” Bullock said. “We’re being more creative with what we do, and the students are coming up with a lot of great ideas about how to do things at a lower cost.”
Iwanski said the budgetary restraints affected her selection of bands.
“Unfortunately the budget’s smaller than it was last year, so the state budget cuts definitely hurt,” she said.
However, Iwanski said ASI is finding ways to work around the new restrictions.
“We can still get pretty decent bands to come. It’s just a point of balance — maybe cutting down shows and not having as many. Once the Rec Center opens again it would be cool to get big acts like we had before,” Iwanski said.
Budget cuts aside, Iwanski said her main goal for the year is for students to attend and enjoy the shows.
“I feel like it’s almost impossible to cater to everyone on campus, but I try to mix it up enough,” Iwanski said. “If I can get one concert a quarter that makes every person on campus say, ‘Oh I’ve heard of them, I want to go to that,’ that’s success.”
Concerts in the UU Plaza are held on Thursday afternoon at 11 a.m. in the UU Plaza.