Selected from among four other bands, the Roots will headline the annual Last Day of Classes concert on Main West Quadrangle April 24.
"We went through all of our short lists and the Roots were a perfect match," said sophomore Mark Pike, co-chair of the Last Day of Classes Committee. "Honestly they are the best live act in hip hop," he said, adding that the group plays its own instruments and performs tunes that make the audience want to dance.
In January, the committee narrowed its choices to five bands--Counting Crows, Outkast, Tenacious D, 311 and the Roots--but after Tenacious D and Counting Crows said they were unavailable, the Roots were the band that best fit with students' music tastes and the Last Day of Classes budget, Pike said.
The committee has not yet decided on an opening band, but Pike said it is considering Black Eyed Peas, G Love and Special Sauce, Alien Ant Farm, Dilated Peoples, Bela Fleck and 2 Skinnee J's. He added that the group is trying to find the style of music that would fit best.
"We discussed in detail the dilemma of trying to make a show that flows and trying to satisfy as large amount of the Duke population as possible," he said, adding that the group was aiming to make the concert more coherent than last year's, which featured rappers Run DMC and alternative rockers Guster.
The Roots, based in Philadelphia, were formed by art school students in 1987 and found their own distinct hip-hop style by playing acoustic instruments and bypassing electronic sampling and DJs. The group, whose album Phrenology is due in stores this July, is a member of okayplayer.com, a network of black, socially conscious artists--including D'Angelo and Dilated Peoples--several of whom have events scheduled in the Triangle during the week of Last Day of Classes.
Senior Vik Devisetty, president of Campus Council, said of the more than 500 e-mails the organization received requesting various artists, he received more e-mails requesting the Roots than any of the other bands available.
Freshman Joshua Nelson said he was excited about the Roots' style of music, and although he had not heard any of their songs, he said he had friends who liked them. "I plan on downloading a couple of their songs when I get home," he said.
Some students, like sophomore Andrew Brandmaier, said they worried that the band may not have enough name recognition to draw a crowd. "A lot of the excitement [of Last Day of Classes] is that there is a bigger-name band," he said.
Campus Council plans to host the Last Day of Classes on Main West quad and, in addition to the usual T-shirts, it hopes to arrange for refreshments, if the budget allows, Devisetty said.
The most recent Last Day of Classes band to perform on the quad was Ben Folds Five in 1998--poor weather has driven the concerts into Page Auditorium each of the last three years.
Devisetty said he was hopeful the weather would comply this year, but that in case it does not, he is investigating the availability of Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Sheffield Tennis Center as possible venues in addition to Page.
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