Spring Weekend will be headlined by rapper Lupe Fiasco and Sri Lankan music sensation M.I.A., the Brown Concert Agency announced today. Mashup artist Girl Talk, cardigan-wearing indie rock darlings Vampire Weekend and the progressive rock jam band Umphrey's McGee will also perform.
David Horn, BCA's booking chair, said the performers were chosen based on a variety of factors including availability, cost and student preference. "We also tried to come up with acts that were really amazing live shows," he said.
Horn added that the headliners were ranked at the top of the poll BCA conducted on WebCT last fall.
M.I.A., whose real name is Maya Arulpragasam, was chosen in part to help satisfy another goal of BCA - "to bring more diversity to the Spring Weekend line-up," Horn said. "We think it's a huge deal that M.I.A. is not only a woman that can command the stage but also comes from Sri Lanka and London and can bring diversity and represent all these cultures that haven't been represented at Spring Weekend in the past."
The concerts will be held over a two day period, with Lupe Fiasco and Vampire Weekend performing on Friday, April 11 and the others on Saturday, April 12. Tickets will go on sale starting March 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students can buy tickets for both shows for $20 during the first week of sales. After that, Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students will be able to purchase tickets for $12 for Friday's show and $15 for Saturday's. Non-students can pay $15 and $20, respectively.
BCA has been in discussions with Director of Student Activities Ricky Gresh, Associate Vice President of Campus Life and Dean for Student Life Margaret Klawunn and other campus administrators in an effort to hold all concerts outside on the Main Green, said Cash McCracken '08, BCA's administrative chair.
Horn said he is very excited for the lineup this year, especially because of the pressure to match last year's performers, The Roots and The Flaming Lips. "One of the positive challenges that we faced coming into this was having such a successful year last year - how do you follow up the Flaming Lips?" he said. "I can't imagine being the producers of the Mighty Ducks having to come up with a sequel to that - but D2 was awesome."
