After much anticipation, the Brown Concert Agency announced that smooth-spitting rapper Snoop Dogg and the kaleidoscopically electric MGMT will headline this year's Spring Weekend concert, which will also feature Major Lazer, the Black Keys and Wale and will take place over the weekend of April 23–25.
This year, which marks the 50th anniversary of the Spring Weekend concerts, BCA aimed to "combine the new as well as the old," said James Hinton '10, the group's booking chair.
The chosen acts are "imbued with a certain appeal to GenY," according to BCA's press release.
Hinton said BCA's goal for the milestone occasion shifted from emulating notable past concerts to finding modern icons and up-and-coming artists.
Hinton said students will look back on the lineup and think, "Wow, these guys played here."
"I've liked (Snoop Dogg) for a long time," Hinton said of the hip-hop artist who released his first album in 1993. "He was one of the first three songs I downloaded on Napster."
Brooklyn-based electronic indie rock duo MGMT was the top request of respondents to BCA's survey in fall's Undergraduate Council of Students poll, which asked students to list bands or artists they would like to see perform for Spring Weekend, according to Hinton.
"Usually we don't even get into the top 10 or 20 in the poll," he said.
"MGMT's just a great band," he added.
The rest of the artists are less well-known, Hinton said. "We're always excited about bringing newer artists," he said.
Major Lazer, a collaboration of British DJs Diplo and Switch, will open for MGMT Friday evening.
Alex Spoto '11, BCA's administrative chair, said the board members identified Major Lazer as "something that would be pretty popular by the time Spring Weekend rolled around."
Starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, rapper Wale, blues-rock band the Black Keys and Snoop Dogg — who just released an album and is currently shooting a film — will take over the Main Green.
"I love the Black Keys, and I'm pretty excited about Wale, too," Spoto said. "We snagged him kind of early on, and I think he's getting bigger and bigger."
Because the Black Keys are releasing an album in May and have gotten a lot of radio play in recent months, "we felt like it was just a really cool time to get them," Hinton said.
Spoto also added that several of BCA's board members have seen — and been impressed by — the Ohio-based duo's past performances. "They've put on a really great live show," he said.
With an increased budget in honor of the anniversary, BCA solicited some "far-fetched" prospects, according to Spoto. "We tried a few kind of crazy bids early on," such as Neil Young, Elvis Costello and the Beastie Boys, he said.
At the end of the day, though, Hinton said he "couldn't be happier with how it turned out."
Tickets will be sold online beginning March 24 for $18 per day with a Brown or Rhode Island School of Design ID and $25 for the general public.
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