Sam Norton
A&E Editor
Sammy Adams sang about hating college—but he’s back again at Keene State for round two for this year’s fall concert, so don’t be brokenhearted that the original performer won’t debut on campus.
Colleen Butler, concert coordinator for the Social Activites Council (S.A.C.), said, that the pop-duo Karmin, led by Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan, who were originally scheduled to perform at this year’s concert cancelled two weeks ago.
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“Karmin cancelled because of the American Music Awards and that is one of the few reasons why they can get out of a contract with us,” Butler said.
Butler said that after ruling out any other possible dates for Karmin to perform, S.A.C. began communication with their agency, Concert Ideas, to find a replacement performer.
She said that S.A.C. then had five artists to choose from, Sammy Adams, Matt and Kim, Imagine Dragons, Breathe Carolina, and Andy Grammer.
Usually prior to booking a performer for the concert, Butler said she asks the student body what artists they are listening to.
But due to time constraints, Butler was not able to get the student body’s input on whom to select as the fall concert performer.
As a result, she had to rely solely on the votes of all S.A.C. members–who range in grades from freshmen to seniors.
When it was time to select a performer, Butler said she would play clips of songs by each artist in order to familiarize everyone with the musicians.
“If people just don’t know the name, they know the songs,” she said.
The members of S.A.C. then voted on their first and second pick for performers, or the option of not to have a fall concert at all—but Sammy Adams came out as the first choice.
During the 2011 Spring Weekend, Sammy Adams opened for Lupe Fiasco here at Keene State College.
“Even though he did come two years ago, there are still the freshmen and sophomores who haven’t seen him before,” she said.
Even though some students have not seen Sammy Adams perform before, other students said they are hesitant to see someone perform.
Junior Alaina Balog said, “I wish they kept Karmin. I don’t really love that they brought someone back we’ve already had.”
However, Balog said that she would still attend the concert. Juniors Kristen Connelly and Enea Brotzman both said that Sammy Adams is a name that is recognizable enough to have perform again at the college.
However, Butler is reluctant that the fall concert will still be taking place. “We got lucky that we found someone,” she said.
Butler said that she believes, this year’s fall concert will still attract a large crowd. “
I don’t think we will have a problem selling tickets,” she explained, “When he did come two years ago, it sold out within three hours. There was Lupe Fiasco too, but I think there were equal amounts of people who went to see both.”
For Butler, crowd appeal is her main concern. “It’s really just about getting people to go, we don’t want to waste money and not have any people go,” she said.
However, S.A.C. had to do more than just find a replacement for Karmin, they had to find a new artist to open for Sammy Adams.
“Sammy Adams’ manager said that it doesn’t matter who the opener is, it could be a student, but they prefer DJs instead of bands as the opener,” Butler said.
“I found that out and the next day Aaron Testa came in the next day and said he would really love to do it,” she said. Testa, who is a junior here at KSC, has disk jockeyed at events in the Night Owl Cafe and in the Keene area, according to Butler.
Butler said that this gives students a chance to have their talent and music showcased.
Testa will not only be given the chance to open for Sammy Adams, but he will also be able to perform for 900 students if the concert sells out, Butler said.
Like Sammy Adams sang, “Between school, athletics, and music it’s all day / So invite your friends to come play / Gave you the invite if you miss it don’t complain,”—despite the setback in securing a performer for this year’s fall concert, Butler said that the concert will still be on Sunday Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room.
Tickets will cost ten dollars for students.
Sam Norton can be contacted at
snorton@keene-equinox.com