Like many Blue Devils gearing up for this year's Last Day of Classes festivities, sophomore Drew Bachmann is eagerly looking forward to Guster's live performance at the April 26 celebration.
Opening for Guster will be hip-hop artist Rahzel and emerging songwriter Matt Costa.
"I couldn't think of a more ideal band for the celebration," Bachmann said of Guster. "Their music is just so upbeat and happy. I can't wait to see them live on the quad."
Despite the broad spectrum of music offered by the three acts, some students have wondered if the bands that will be on campus Wednesday measure up to those performing at other colleges' last day concerts.
At Cornell University, songwriter and pianist Ben Folds and hip-hop MC Talib Kweli will co-headline Slope Day 2006 in May.
"The biggest goal is to make sure we have a diverse line-up that caters to the tastes of our university," said senior Jon Bellante, Slope Day chair. "These are types of artists that we have not had perform on Slope Day yet and are excited to reach out to the entire community."
Students at Yale University are also gearing up to see Ben Folds, who will co-headline the school's annual Spring Fling April 25 with southern rapper Ludacris.
"Everyone on campus is extremely excited," said junior Katie Allen, Spring Fling chair. "We normally hear lots of complaints, but I haven't heard any this year."
Ben Folds will also be performing at Princeton University's Spring Concert April 22.
Duke senior Mark Middaugh, LDOC committee chair, said Guster and Rahzel measure up to other schools' choices for concerts.
"Ben Folds is a big name and a big performing artist, but it's not like he has 20 number one hits," Middaugh said. "I don't think Ben Folds is necessarily a huge name compared to other people. We're excited because Guster puts on a great outdoor live show."
He added that Rahzel recently landed a commercial with Pepsi, which is known to feature pop stars like Britney Spears.
Middaugh explained that many factors go into selecting a LDOC band.
"What we do is at the start of the year come up with a set of criteria to see what would make a good LDOC band," he said. "We look at what kind of band we want to bring-a band that performs well live, has high name recognition, is generally well-liked on college tour circuits."
Aside from the type of band, Middaugh said the selection is also limited by budget constraints.
Campus Council contributed $50,000 to this year's LDOC budget. As part of a two-year old partnership with the Council, the Duke University Union contributed another $20,000.
The $70,000 total does not match other universities' budgets for last day concerts-Spring Fling 2006 will cost $150,000 and Slope Day 2006 will cost roughly $170,000.
But Middaugh said the committee will receive a budget increase in time for next year's LDOC. The Board of Trustees approved a $7.50 per semester increase in the student activities fee, amounting to an approximately $20,000 boost for LDOC.
"For future years, there is going to be a completely independent fee set exclusively for the LDOC," Middaugh said. "We are really excited about the funding increase."
Budget size is not the only way this year's LDOC will differ from other colleges' last day celebrations.
The University announced last week that a strict "Bring Your Own Beverage" policy will be enforced during LDOC.
In addition, students may only use grills provided by Residence LIfe and Housing Services and grill only in Clocktower Quadrangle.
At Cornell, Slope Day-true to its name-takes place on top of a hill enclosed by a chain-linked fence.
Only students with wristbands may participate in drinking on the slope-which is considered a bar by the state of New York-Bellante said. Food and music will be provided on the hill.
Bellante said the university previously tried to shut down the event because of drinking violations. The regulations that are in place, however, have kept the concert going.
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