Duke University Union, Campus Council and the Last Day of Classes Committee are “Moving On” with Weekend Excursion, a North Carolina-based rock band that will open the LDOC festivities April 27. The band has played in a wide array of locations, including Afghanistan, Korea, Bahrain and Duke in 2003.
LDOC organizers noted that the group, whose single “Moving On” brought them local fame in September 1999, was a great choice because of their “upbeat show” and previous experience playing at Duke. “We had a decision to make between having a band with a big name and only one hit song, and a band that was lesser known but has a great show. We chose the latter,” Campus Council President Anthony Vitarelli said.
Despite the committee’s enthusiastic support for Weekend Excursion, budget issues played a key role in determining this year’s opening band. LDOC Committee Chair Matt Greenfield noted that organizers originally hoped to diversify the event by bringing in some hip-hop flavor.
“We were looking for diversity, but unfortunately we weren’t able to procure a hip-hop group that would be good enough,” Greenfield said.
Attracting Weekend Excursion to Duke cost between $4,000 and $7,000—by comparison, getting Collective Soul to headline the event took between $25,000 and $35,000. Organizers said they chose Collective Soul over a better-known band because of the group’s energetic live performances.
Among the students interviewed who were familiar with Weekend Excursion, the band’s presence inspired mixed reviews.
“I think Weekend Excursion is a good opening band. I’m not that sure about Collective Soul as a headline band, though. They’re just not that well known anymore and not that popular,” sophomore John McAneny said.
Many students seemed unfamiliar with the groups. Several called themselves “indifferent” to the opening band and were unimpressed with Collective Soul.
“I think that people would rather have a good hip-hop band than a pop band that hasn’t had a hit since we were in seventh grade,” junior Lauren Phillips-Thoryn said.
Others were content simply with the fact that there would be any music at all on the LDOC.
“They’re not two bands that I listen to very frequently, but it’s better than no music, I suppose,” freshman Blake Rose said.
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