While Fallapalooza used to be a vehicle for up-and-coming bands, the popular concert series now relies on fallen heroes of the past.
Fallapalooza has a track record of bringing in artists that are on the upward climb to stardom. Bands such as the Black Eyed Peas and O.A.R. have graced the Kiewit Fitness Center with their rising fame.
However, in the past two years, it seems as though Fallapalooza is losing its spark for highlighting new bands.
In 2006, Jurassic 5 hit the stage without many of the students having even heard its name.
Our faith in the CSU Program Board band picks began to waver with the choice of fame-dwindling band Jimmy Eat World in 2007.
This fall, CSU Program Board bit the bullet when it decided to bring the outdated pop band, Third Eye Blind, to the stage.
Third Eye Blind put out its first demo in 1993 and continued strong through the late 1990’s with radio hits such as “Semi-Charmed Life” and “How’s It Going to Be.”
Although Third Eye Blind had a very successful reign in the 90’s, it began to die out in the early 2000’s after their last major hit “Deep Inside of You.”
Third Eye Blind hasn’t had a new album since its 2003 flop, “Out of the Vein.”
Only two songs were released as singles from “Out of the Vein,” and one music video. The band’s most recent single, “Crystal Baller,” peaked at spot 69 on Billboard’s Top 100.
Its new album, “Ursa Major,” is to be released in February 2009, but it has been anticipated since 2007. The band’s first single from the album will be released in November of this year.
Although the new single has not yet been released by the 90’s pop band, their downhill slide from their last hit is evident in their lack of an album in almost five years.
As prospective students learn about Creighton’s activities, Fallapalooza is well-advertised. Potential students in the past have been in awe over the choice of popular bands with current chart-topping singles.
Students have noticed the change in band popularity – and age.
When bands such as Jimmy Eat World and Third Eye Blind are chosen, they remind our current student body of elementary school days. Soon, future students will look back on these band choices and ask, “Who are they?”
CSU Program Board chooses bands with the help of a middle agent. At this time, this is the only information disclosed about the band decision process.
In order for Fallapalooza to keep the reputation of bringing in new artists, a definite change needs to be made when choosing bands.
First and foremost, CSU needs to release more details describing how it chooses the band. Our ability to suggest changes and improvements is hindered by this cloak of secrecy.
In years past, surveys have been administered to see what bands a student would enjoy watching perform at Fallapalooza. However this year, we have no record of an official survey besides illegitimate Facebook groups.
By making the process more democratic, the bands chosen would be a better fit for the Creighton community, and the program board would receive less criticism. If more students were given the option to participate in the decision process, we believe Fallapalooza would get students more excited and receive a larger audience turn-out.
There is no doubt that Third Eye Blind had a decent run in the music industry during its time, but that time is up.