1994, we thank you for offering to let us borrow some of your hit bands for our UPC concert this fall, but you can have them back. “Live” and “Collective Soul” have about as much shelf life as the Macarena, a dance you have not yet heard of, but will become enamored with for some time.
Are these the bands that our student activities fees pay for?
Could we not get “Salt-N-Pepa” to reunite for us because Spinderella had a scheduling conflict? Was “Ace of Base” too busy? Had the “C+C Music Factory” shut down and outsourced the funk?
We could go on for pages with these, but we’ll spare you this saunter down the hits of the early Bill Clinton era.
Of course, the best question to ask is can we have our money back, please?
After last spring’s debacle that ended with us not having any concert at all, we hoped that UPC would be able to take that saved money and find us some artists that have had some hits this decade.
It’s not the genre of music we’re taking offense to, it’s the notoriety of the musicians. Everyone on this campus has different tastes in music, and we realize that in planning events for a large group of people, you aren’t going to be able to please everyone.
We know it always seems that we attack the UPC choices every year, but we can all agree that bands like “Live” and “Collective Soul” aren’t up to the measure of former performers like Ludacris and Dierks Bentley. Names like those transcend genres and can generate some sort of response, albeit one of “Oh, I’ve heard of them.” You may not like their style of music, but you’ve at least heard of them.
When we found out that “Live” and “Collective Soul” were the featured bands, many of us asked, “Who’s the headlining band? Are they the warm-up acts?”
“Live” and “Collective Soul” sent us on an office-wide Google search, and even then we still weren’t entirely certain who they were, nor are we now.
At this point, we’re officially more excited about Taylor Hicks collaborating with the AU Marching Band than we are about the fall concert, as is most of the campus. It now promises to be the highlight of the fall entertainment season.
We also are wondering if we got these bands because our concert was bumped up in the yearly schedule. If we had waited to have the concert, could we have gotten better bands? If we could have, UPC, why didn’t we wait?
UPC needs to be good stewards of the money and responsibility that we place in their hands. A campus like Auburn deserves better than the dregs of a “Best of the Mid-’90s” CD collection.
-Cliff McCollum, for a majority
of the Editorial Board
September 11, 2007 - 1:41pm
live & collective soul
True, Cliff, these bands have been around for a while, and true, Cliff, they might not be your choice of music, but i have to wonder who cares about your opinion. Personally i knew of and listened to both these bands long before the likes of Ludacris and whoever that boring country star were ever around. I'm just happy UPC actually was able to bring real bands to Auburn (weather permitting) that will give a great live performance. And as for the Idol "star", ask yourself why is America so caught up with the reality t.v. phenomenon that we refuse to appreciate anything original.September 17, 2007 - 1:30pm
In response to Mr.
In response to Mr. Anonymous’ comments, (first off why do you want to be anonymous, are you afraid to voice your opinion publicly.) I think Cliff has every right to be mad, and I agree with him. Like you, I too have heard of both ‘Collective Soul’ and ‘Live’, but when is the last time either of these bands had a hit? Live’s biggest song was “Lightning Crashes” which came out in 1995, 12 years ago. Collective Soul’s biggest hit was “Run”, which debuted in 1999, 8 years ago. So Mr. Anonymous, please tell me why the students of Auburn University would want to listen to a bands whose biggest hits came a decade ago? I’m not knocking the genre of music, but why not get a Dave Matthews, John Mayer, or Matchbox 20, someone more up to on times. Cause see, a lot of students were between the ages of 9-12 when these bands were big, and have NO CLUE about their music. So I have to wonder, who cares about your opinion Mr. Anonymous? Maybe not even you since you don’t care enough to use your real name. So yes, you and a handful of other Auburn students will be there to see ‘Live’ and ‘Collective Soul’ perform. As for me, Cliff, and the rest of the 20,000 + other students, we’ll wait till UPC brings a band that we don’t have to find our old cassette tapes to figure out what in the world the band performing used to play.September 24, 2007 - 12:21am
i just wanted to say that
i just wanted to say that though cliff''s opinion might be that of the most of auburn's students, it is most certainly not that of all of them. i grew up on live and collective soul's music. not only do i love their music and love the genre in general, but they are also good stage performers if you are going for rock. furthermore, these bands were not just part of the nineties, they ruled the nineties. live alone has produced and sold way more albums than ludacris. and they had hits in the past decade, some way more famous than any of dierks bently's. it may be that it is hard to please everyone on campus, but let's at least say that rock every third year is not a bad idea, and if you like alternative rock, then these guys were a great choice. so thanks upc!