The Villanova Times

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: LastWord

Media Credit: Matthew Crawford

Media Credit: Shauna Segadelli

Media Credit: Shauna Segadelli

Novafest: On West Campus, it is the one day that Public Safety and even Radnor police let drinking and partying go unpunished, at least until the late afternoon. Fun times for so many Villanova students. A completely random guy from another college, visiting a friend at Villanova apparently, came up to me and said "This is the best college experience I have ever had! Forget Villanofun, this is Villasofun!"

West Campus's raucous partying gave Villanova a great reputation, and the authority's laid back approach to it all was incredible. Even after the drinking and "West-fest" activities were cleared up, the Public Safety officers appeared to be nicer and more lenient than normal. When, at midnight, a giant cardboard box designed as a Rubik's Cube was spotted running around and dancing in the West Campus quads, some Public Safety officers only laughed and said "Awesome" or "Great Idea!" After a while, they cleared the quads, dispersed the Rubik's Cube and the long day was finally winding down.

On Main Campus, however, a completely different story evolved. The field festival this year was void of food, inflatables and video games, like it had last year. The cover band was alright, and since it was a beautiful day, a decent amount of people made themselves comfortable on the grass in front of Dougherty to enjoy the music.

However, the one song I listened to was "Sweet Caroline," and either the singer felt like doing a very interesting rendition of it, or he had one of the worst voices of any band's singer that I have ever heard. I cannot attest to how Friday night's dance went as I did not attend. I did attend the hypnotist show, which was hilarious and rather incredible. Erik Kand, the hypnotist, who has just signed a contract with HBO put on a very good act. He was able to hypnotize a good amount of people, namely one guy who believed he won the lottery at the end of the show and screamed excitedly about winning the lottery for about a minute. Some, however, did not become completely hypnotized, although they played along hilariously.

My main point of criticism will, of course, be the 5:00 concert, featuring Chester French and Gym Class Heroes. I have heard rumors that it would have taken 1800 in ticket sales for CAT and the university to break even. Sadly, only a few hundred people went to the concert. First of all, this gives Villanova a horrible reputation for concerts. Hopefully Gym Class Heroes does not spread the word about our pathetic mid-day concert. Still, I am sure that even they would have rather been outside enjoying the beautiful weather than inside, playing music.

Could CAT and the university really have expected a lot of people to show up for a concert when it is still bright outside? Perhaps I was spoiled as a freshman with Goo Goo Dolls and the large turnout for that concert, but the past two years have been absolute failures. A CAT survey was circulated earlier this semester listing a few options for the concert. Jack's Mannequin and Lupe Fiasco were among the five choices. Jack's Mannequin was in the area the week before Novafest. They appeared at Stockton University's (South Jersey) spring festival a week before Novafest. Would Jack's Mannequin have been a better choice if at all possible? Definitely. More people would have turned out for Jack's Mannequin, so even if Jack's Mannequin cost more than GCHs, the university would still have had the same deficit. Thus, it is better to get the groups that will draw the most people, because no matter what, the turnout will likely never be enough to break even or much less to make a profit. Especially at an afternoon concert when the sun is still high in the sky.

This commentary is not meant to bash the Campus Activities Team, but simply to point out the obvious. Also, it must be noted that CAT is surely not completely responsible for the past two Novafest concert failures. Still, Novafest concert strategy must be reconsidered in the upcoming years. CAT has some very smart, dedicated and creative people working in it and I am confident that, as a result, Novafest, mainly the concert, will be better in the upcoming years. The concert cannot get much worse.

Or, if we, as a university, are not able to achieve Goo Goo Dolls-like success for Novafest again, at least put the concert in a smaller venue or outdoors; perhaps at the eternally successful "West-fest?"

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