Tufts forfeits cost of cancelled Spring Fling

The University was forced to forfeit tens of thousands of dollars this weekend when it cancelled the annual Spring Fling concert because of bad weather.

The event, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, was to include performances by rapper Busta Rhymes, the band Reel Big Fish, and the student band Drowned. Although the Concert Board saved money on production costs, it will still have to pay the first two acts for their scheduled appearances. Organizers did not take out insurance against the possibility of bad weather.

The Concert Board announced that the event had been cancelled in a mass e-mail sent early Friday afternoon. Many students wondered why organizers had no backup plan.

In an advertisement in today's Daily, the Concert Board said there was no way they could move Spring Fling indoors, as the Gantcher Convocation Center is not allowed to be used for large concerts. "Tufts made a promise to the Medford community that [Gantcher] would only be used for sports, Convocation/Commencement exercises, large lectures, and explicitly no concerts," the letter said.

When Spring Fling was last rained out nine years ago, the event was moved to Cousens Gymnasium -- but "that was a disaster" Concert Board Co-Chair Jordan Kolasinski said, because of the mess students created.

According to Kolasinski, board members had been checking the forecast for nearly two weeks leading up to the show, but the final decision was not made until the day before.

Kolasinski and his co-chair, Ariel Santos, consulted student activities administrators and their agent before making the decision. They all agreed that the conditions would be too harsh to put on a show, although Kolasinki and Santos had the final say.

Although there were some objections that Saturday's rain was not heavy enough to warrant canceling the show, Kolasinski said that after observing the weather on Saturday, "there was no way the concert could have gone on."

Some students felt that the Concert Board poorly planned the event. "We live in a climate where it is sunny and seventy one day and flurrying and 35 degrees the next. I can't believe there was not a plan in the event of bad weather," senior Andrew Kenney said.

The student band Drowned was not notified by Concert Board before the mass e-mail was sent. "I woke up Friday morning, and a couple of my friends had IM'd me" that the show was cancelled, Drowned member Sivan Ilamathi said.

Ilamathi said he understood that organizers were "dealing with acts like Busta Rhymes and Reel Big Fish, and that we're just the Tufts band," but he was surprised Concert Board did not contact Drowned first. "I just wish they had extended that courtesy to us," Ilamathi said.

However, according to Kolasinski, the Concert Board sent Drowned an e-mail Friday morning and left a message on Ilamathi's answering machine. "If they're upset, I completely understand," Kolasinski said. "I think they're still frustrated... We absolutely dealt with it in the right way."

Ilamathi said he only received a phone message after Drowned sent an e-mail to the Concert Board and several local clubs to find out if there were any other possible venues. "They didn't initially contact us," he said.

Drowned ended up playing a set in the Hodgdon Hall lounge on Saturday night.

The Concert Board is offering ticket refunds from now until May 1.