The American electropop band 3OH!3 will be coming to the University of Tampa campus this Sunday, April 21, 2013 for the annual Party in the Park event. Their most popular song to date is “Don’t Trust Me” from their album Want, released in 2008. The chorus goes, “She wants to touch me, woo ooh/ she wants to love me, woo ooh/ she’ll never leave me woo ooh, woo ooh, ooh ooh/ don’t trust a ho, never trust a ho/ won’t trust a ho ‘cause the ho won’t trust me.”
Kristen Mathe, senior and music chair for Student Productions, said organizing the event was a long process. The contract-writing process starts in the fall as soon as the semester began. She said there were no strange requests in the contract this year from the band. “White Panda [the opening performers for the concert] asked for red solo cups,” she said. “They’ve been pretty basic, regular food, nothing really special.”
Jeff Durso, junior sports management major, said he thinks 3OH!3 should not be the center of the stage. He went to ULTRA this year, and based on White Panda’s performance he said, “3OH!3 should open for White Panda instead.”
Mathe said they made some tweaks to the security plans this year. The ticket system was not working the way it was organized previously with a roster of students’ names. She said there was a big surge of students trying to enter the concert at once last year.
“We are trying out a new system where you pre-order your tickets online and it’s still free. You can still order an additional ticket for a friend,” Mathe said. Students can either print or download their tickets onto their smartphones. “We’re going to have scanners the day of, and you will be able to go right in the park. We’re hoping that that will eliminate a lot of the wait for students. As long as they get their ticket in advance it should work out.”
Tae Bell, sophomore allied health major, said she doesn’t know who 3OH!3 is. “I’m not excited about it. I won’t be attending the concert,” Bell said.
Ryan Day, senior and president of Student Productions, said the process of finding a band starts at the beginning of the year with a list of artists and their prices for performance. He said they try to focus on a genre rather than the actual performer to get a feel for what the students like.
“We put out a survey with some artists to get some feedback on what kind of genres the students are looking for,” Day said. “We don’t like to look at specific artists mainly because sometimes things don’t work out,” he said.
Joe Smith, sophomore business management major, said 3OH!3 was a poor choice for a performer for Party in the Park. “How much did it cost to book these guys, like $2,000? I think I could afford to book those guys for my birthday,” he said. “And why is it on Sunday?” Smith said he will not attend the concert.
Day works with Student Productions to put together a performance with music that students are interested in. “It helps to know artists because then maybe we can find similar artists who are on the same level, and we work with the budget we have,” he said. Student Productions tries to make Party in the Park a fun event for students and they take concerns and suggestions into consideration while planning the event.
“I’m really excited for [the concert],” Day said. “I was a huge 3OH!3 fan and I know they just recently came out with an album. I think they’re going to be really fun to meet with.”
Kelly St.Onge can be reached at kelly.st.onge@theminaretonline.com.