In an effort to reduce last minute crowds, the Major Activities Board (MAB) announced yesterday that ticket prices for Summer Breeze 2002 are $5 cheaper when purchased before the show date, May 18. Method Man and Redman will headline this year’s concert, while Kid Koala and Lucky Boys Confusion are scheduled to open for them at 6:00 p.m.
The price change is brought about due to the Office of the Reynolds Club and Student Activities (ORCSA)’s decision not to staff the Reynolds Club box office during ticket sales. “[MAB] has to staff the box office,” said Andrea Hanay, the MAB treasurer and a fourth-year in the College. “If we have the mad rushes to the box office like we’ve had in the past the day of show, we’re not really going to be able to handle that. We made the reduced prices to encourage people to buy tickets ahead of time.”
Advance tickets to the MAB show are $15 for University students and $25 for faculty and lab school students. The day of the show, tickets are $20 and $25, respectively. Last year’s concert tickets were $5 cheaper across the board due to lack of a winter 2000 MAB show.
MAB’s concert, a feature of Summer Breeze, is only one of the events planned for next weekend. Summer Breeze 2002 will kick off Friday, May 17 with a screening of the film Zoolander on the quads sponsored by Doc Films. An all-night outdoor dance party will follow.
On Saturday, the quads will be transformed into a carnival setting complete with an inflatable moonwalk, wax hands, caricatures, and a hypnotist. The Outdoor Adventure Club has rented a climbing wall, and the Festival of the Arts will sponsor a circus parade. Habitat for Humanity will be conducting a tie-dye fundraiser as well.
“This year, more RSOs have taken the opportunity to participate in Summer Breeze. We hope student involvement will make this year’s Summer Breeze a great success,” said Christina Liao, one of COUP’s Summer Breeze event chairs.
There will be a concert on the quads Saturday afternoon preceding MAB’s show sponsored by WHPK. The five-hour long show, which focuses on offerings from independent artists, will feature pop from Simpatico, rock and roll from the Wildbunch, garage rock from the Means, new wave from Deathbeam, and the Afflictions, a Chicago band.
“It’s a free, laid-back concert where there is not the strict, hierarchical delineation between the performers and the audience, and that features bands people can hear on WHPK,” said Danielle Choi, program director for the station and the organizer of the concert.
Members of the MAB board hire acts for Summer Breeze with the remainder of the yearly funding they are allocated from the student activities fee.
“We’re really excited about bringing Method Man and Redman to campus,” Hanay said. “One of the things we were worried about after doing multiple fall shows is that it might hurt Summer Breeze. We’re really excited that Summer Breeze is going to be big as always.”
According to Hanay, MAB consistently receives two complaints from students: that the Summer Breeze acts are mainly hip-hop and rap artists, and that the lineup is announced close to the performance date. “We’ve always stressed trying to bring a variety of different acts,” Hanay said. “We have so little control over who comes, especially for Summer Breeze.”
MAB contacts an agent who presents them with a list of musical acts passing through Chicago during the set date of Summer Breeze. The group narrows that list to artists who are within its price range and at least somewhat known on campus. “Then we’re left with a fairly short list,” Hanay said. “We’ll look at that list and then we’ll prioritize. We look for the best bang for the buck, artists who are on the way up, not on the way down.”
MAB also organizes focus groups at the beginning of each year to obtain feedback from students about artists they would like to see brought to campus. These artists receive high priority in the decision process.
Method Man and Redman are hip-hop artists like previous performers Mos Def, Busta Rhymes, and Run DMC. “Hip-hop and rap acts tend to be the standard [for the MAB show] because they’re the most likely to be free when we need them,” Hanay said.
Method Man and Redman were first paired up by Def Jam in 1994 for their “Month of the Man” marketing campaign and have since collaborated on many projects. The two released the album Blackout together in 1999, and both acted in the recent movie How High. “Redman and Method Man are supposed to have a great vibe,” Haney said.
Method Man won a Grammy Award for his (1996) collaboration with Mary J. Blige “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need To Get By.” He first achieved notice as a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, and has since released two solo albums and one duet album with New Jersey’s Redman. Redman has released six solo albums for Def Jam.
Kid Koala, a Canadian DJ known for his scratching skills and re-mixes, is a member of the Montreal band Bullfrog and has contributed to the Gorillaz’s self-titled debut, in addition to his solo work. Lucky Boys Confusion, a Chicago-based band, plays rock songs based in punk, ska, hip-hop, and reggae.
