Thousands of people, both students and non-students, are anxiously anticipating April 22-an opportunity to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a popular rock band, play right here on campus free of charge to students, thanks to the ASUU Presenter’s Office.
The event has been marketed, posters have been hung and tickets have been given out reading, “Yeah Yeah Yeahs?The U of U Union Free Speech Area?Rain or Shine.”
But the weather may not be the issue if the band gets its way-and why shouldn’t it? Its members have not signed contracts. They are not obligated to any sort of agreement.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have taken issue with a clause in the proposed contract that stipulates the concert will be moved outside in the event that ticket sales exceed the capacity of the Union Ballroom, which they have.
Sure, it’s easy to point the finger at the band and call it childish for demanding the appearance of vast popularity by holding the concert indoors. After all, that’s the reasoning it has issued for demanding an indoor venue.
But the underlying question is why put so much energy toward marketing an event when the main band has not even agreed to show? The Yeah Yeah Yeahs has been touted on posters, in rhetoric and on printed tickets as the highly anticipated headliner of The Grand Kerfuffle-but now there are questions regarding whether it will come at all.
The Presenter’s Office should be praised for the generally high quality and diverse entertainers it has managed to bring to campus this year. But on the other hand, one would think it would have learned from past instances that performers, especially those of a popular nature, can be demanding and will always want it their way.
That’s why predetermined contractual agreements are so imperative in the process.
Organizers have issued the excuse of a lagging general counsel, which they say has posed the current debacle.
Had the process moved more expeditiously, had the Presenter’s Office demanded immediate contractual results (or at least a set-in-stone answer before marketing the event) for the good of the thousands of screaming fans whom they’d be entertaining on the 22nd, perhaps then the Presenter’s Office would have legal grounds to bolster itself in negotiating with the band.
But now, everyone who holds a ticket that reads, “Yeah Yeah Yeahs?Rain or Shine,” could be sorely disappointed.
Because this contract was not-and still has not been-signed, the Presenter’s Office now runs the risk of public embarrassment as its signs and tickets may have misled the community.
Let’s face it: No matter how greedy the Yeah Yeah Yeahs may seem in light of the current debacle, the Presenter’s Office is going to come off looking like the bad guy because it has been touting the event. And because it did not practice responsible business practices when dealing with the band, perhaps that criticism is not only reasonable, but also deserved.