Jessie J
Whether students like it or not, one of this university’s most popular entertainment traditions will be marked this year by a few big changes. Not only is Art Attack moving from longtime venue Byrd Stadium to the indoor confines of Xfinity Center, but Jessie J will also be the concert’s first female headliner since 1994.
“We wanted this year to be different,” said Guillaume Toujas, Student Entertainment Events concert director. “We definitely wanted a diverse lineup, because we have to make sure we program a concert that’s suitable for all 12,000 people that may be at the show.”
Reaction to the video announcement of the lineup SEE released at midnight Tuesday has been predictably mixed, as it has been in years past. It also elicited maybe a bit more surprise from students, who had anticipated the news for weeks.
“It’ll be a good show — I don’t doubt that at all — it’s just not what I expected,” sophomore psychology major Kirsten McLaughlin said. “I’m not very excited, but I’m not disappointed, either. Everyone knows Jessie J and—”
“Everyone knows Flavor Flav too, but it’s like, what is he famous for?” interrupted her lunch companion, sophomore environmental science and policy and French literature major Theron Mercadel. “I just think that this lineup is not going to pack the house. With Big Sean and Wale, there were tons of people, and I just don’t think Art Attack is going to be that big this year.”
Wale and Big Sean did in fact “pack the house” last year, drawing more than 10,000 to Byrd Stadium — the highest Art Attack attendance since 2010. The decision to bring the hip-hop artists as co-headliners continued a 20-year trend of male performers and a recent slate of hip-hop names, as Wale and Big Sean were the third such act in the past four years. This year, those patterns are ending with a female artist with a modern electro-pop sound.
“When you look at the biggest names in music, a lot of them are female,” Toujas said. “So it doesn’t make sense to have had male performers for 20 years straight. And we’re not trying to cater to just female fans, because I know there are males out there that can appreciate good female vocals and performance.”
For some, Jessie J’s gender is not the problem — it’s her more mainstream genre and its relationship to the often niche preferences of college music fans.
“I think it’s good to mix it up, but to have a pop headliner at a college concert? That wouldn’t be my first choice,” senior nutrition and food science major Emily Quade said.
But part of Jessie J’s appeal as a headliner is just that: the vast popularity of her style and genre. Her electro beats, paired with strong vocals, garnered her six U.K. top-10 hits on her 2011 debut album alone. Her most recent blockbuster ballad, “Bang Bang,” featuring Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, has more than 290 million views on YouTube.
“Her songs reach out to a broad audience of different people, and most of them sound great,” freshman architecture major Njillan Sarre said.
Both the show’s openers — EDM duo The Chainsmokers and hip-hop artist Logic — have also garnered commercial success, finding their own time on the Billboard charts. But many students expressed disappointment in a portion of the lineup, a consequence of the diversity of genre.
“I’m just really not OK with The Chainsmokers,” sophomore marketing and operations management major Dana D’Aquila said. “‘#SELFIE’ really turned me off to them.”
Freshman psychology major Denise Ganoa said she was interested in going to the show but would probably leave after Logic finished performing.
Production aspects might open the closed minds of some of Art Attack’s attendees. Toujas said SEE is working to make each act aesthetically impressive, a quality that could persuade hardcore genre fans to stick around for the rest of the show.
“We’re working hard, more so than in past years, on the production side,” said Toujas. “I think this concert is going to look really, really good.”
The stage setup will be similar to those of shows held in Cole Field House. The stage will face one-half of the court, with the bulk of seated fans expected to fill the wall of seats behind where the basket would normally be and its adjacent sections.
Fans who prefer to get closer to the action can watch the show from the floor for a higher price of $20 — a change from last year, when all tickets were available for $10 and spots on the field in front of the stage were available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Toujas cites the new venue and “security concerns” for the change, but many students singled out the higher price as a concern.
“First-come, first-served does get hectic because people try to shove through, but it rewards you for getting there early,” D’Aquila said.
Mercadel and McLaughlin discussed the topic over lunch.
McLaughlin said: “Well, I understand that because [Jessie J] is a big star and —”
“Big Sean and Wale were big stars, and it was $10 for the floor!” he said.
Mark it down as another aspect of Art Attack XXXII the student body is still unsure how it feels about.
Tickets for Art Attack XXXII go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow at umdtickets.com and at noon the same day at Stamp Student Union’s ticket office.
