When Blues Traveler comes to GW’s Smith Center Wednesday night for the first time in three years, its performance will be the culmination of months of behind-the-scenes planning by the GW Program Board, said PB members and University administrators.
GW is slated to be the fourth show on Blues Traveler’s 11-stop tour, which will promote the band’s 1997 CD Straight on Till Morning, its fifth album in seven years.
To sell out the 3,500-plus Smith Center seats available for the concert, PB took to the airwaves, advertising the concert in radio spots. The group also put ads in local newspapers and set up tables at the Marvin Center, hawking tickets and giving away free sample CDs by Tragically Hip, Blues Traveler’s opening act.
To bring the band to campus, PB footed the entire bill using a chunk of its University-allocated funding, said PB Concert Chair P.J. Rosenberg.
Though he would not say how much PB spent on the band, he said PB tries to distribute its concert spending throughout the year.
“My goal has been to bring one large act to campus every semester in addition to the several smaller ones we’ve had at events like Fall Fest,” Rosenberg said
Rosenberg said one reason GW does not attract more big-name acts is the University chooses not to work through outside companies to secure acts.
Schools that do, such as George Mason and American universities, offer companies open dates in their largest venues, and the company does the rest, from securing the band’s contract to play to organizing the group’s move-in the day of the concert. The university’s name is used by the company to promote the show, but the school doesn’t pay a cent to bring the band to campus.
“We feel that the Program Board isn’t here to support another company,” Rosenberg said. “We are here to provide entertainment for kids, organized by kids.”
Members of PB not only were responsible for smoothing out kinks in the band’s contract, they also contracted to provide two 50-person crews to move the band in and out of the Smith Center beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Rosenberg said another barrier to getting big performances in the past has been Smith Center scheduling. But under this year’s new management, finding a free date has been less of a problem.
Although many students are excited for the show – which has not yet sold out – some students said they would prefer that the University use an outside company to secure more large acts.
“In the long run, it would be more beneficial to students that they have the opportunity to see more bands,” said GW freshman Carmen Bell.
But Rosenberg said he prefers PB bring to campus smaller acts that have not necessarily achieved superstar status yet. He pointed out that the band Strangefolk, scheduled to play the Marvin Center ballroom Nov. 22, has recently been signed to the same record label as the Squirrel Nut Zippers. He also said the band Guster, which played GW last year, is having great success on its latest tour.
“Colleges are not going to be getting the biggest names all of the time,” PB Chair Brian Nathanson said. “But they should be a great place to see acts before they get big. Bands know that colleges are a good place to find that sort of vibe.”
