By: Angelina Berube
Posted In: Opinion
Photo credit: Angelina Berube
Andrew McMahon, of Jack’s Mannequin, during their performance at Salve Regina in April 2008.
For the past three years, the spring semester has always been my favorite, especially around March. I looked forward to coming back after spring break for one huge reason, the announcement of the band playing the annual spring concert. Unfortunately this year, in my senior year, I found no such excitement as this is the first time in seven years (as far back as they list bands on the Salve Website) that Rodgers Recreation Center will not become a makeshift concert venue.
The spring concert is actually how I found out about Salve. I remember hearing when I was in my junior year of high school that one of my favorite bands, Something Corporate, was slated to performed at Salve. At the time, I did not know much about the school, but quickly learned a great deal about it as I tried to convince my parents to take me down to Newport. I learned that students were part of the process of deciding who performed and that the school held this concert every year. Since my freshman year, Gym Class Heroes, Jack’s Mannequin and the Plain White Ts have performed for Salve students. The spring concert was all about the students. A committee of students picked the band, and students were able to volunteer to help set-up and break down the stage and receive a cool event staff t-shirt and free ticket to the show. Whether you liked the band or not, you had to give Salve props for getting a well-known act to play for a small audience of students. From my own experience, the spring concert was not just a concert, it also was a way to get involved on campus and be a part of something big. In my freshman year, Gym Class Heroes performed in front of a sold-out Salve audience. Salve got the band just as their single “Cupid’s Chokehold” was exploding on the charts. As a member of the concert steering committee at the time, I got the opportunity to work with the band. This was one of my greatest experiences at Salve. I was given the opportunity to be involved in the concert planning, which at a larger university would never have happened. The following two years were just as exciting, both from the perspective of helping out, reporting on the bands and attending the concerts. The concerts were a great way to celebrate the end of the school year with friends. Sure, there are other events such as Monster Bingo and other Late Night Wakehurst events, but there was just something about the spring concert wrapping up the semester that made it so special. This is my plea to get the spring concert back or at least be considered again for the next school year. The freshmen this year may have been told coming into the school that Salve offers this event every year, and now that spring has rolled around, could be wondering where that concert is. My point is, you can’t please everyone in the school with the band you choose, but it should not be about that. The spring concert unites around 500 Salve students who want to enjoy themselves with other classmates as the concert was open to only students. To put it simple, it is beyond disappointing that there is no spring concert. The spring concert gave you something to look forward to at the end of the semester. Now, all I have to look forward to is the realization that comes May 16th, I will be launched into the real world.