Spring Break
Finally, major concert coming to campus
Nick Barron
Issue date: 8/29/05 Section: Culture
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Jason Mraz will perform Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. in Swinney Recreation Center. Doors open at 7 p.m. and students can purchase tickets for $5 through the Central Ticket Office. The general public can buy tickets for $20.
No official date has been announced for the opening of ticket sales. Missy Higgins and Raul Midon will open for Mraz.
Mraz recently released his second album, "Mr. A-Z," and the first single off the album, "Wordplay," was at 18 on last week's Billboard charts. The album entered Billboard's 200 at number five and is currently ranked 38.
"A major concert such as bringing Jason Mraz to perform at UMKC has been talked about for a few years now," said Zauyah Waite, director of the Student Life Office. "On many occasions, formal and informal, when students are asked what they would like to see happen at UMKC, the answer is a big concert."
Mraz finished first in a student poll taken by the Activity and Program Council (APC) last spring to gauge who students would like to see in concert. Another poll over the summer did not list Mraz.
"However, all of the artists who did earn a substantial portion of the vote (in the summer poll) were either not touring or their per-show price exceeded the budgeted amount for the concert," said Jessica Long, APC faculty advisor.
Long said it will cost about $45,000 to bring Mraz to campus, with ticket sales helping to cover a portion of those costs. Funds from the student activity fee, which each student pays when enrolled in classes, will pay for the majority of the concert.
"It is our hope to keep the cost low for students, but we would also like to recycle the ticket revenue into the total cost to allow for additional large-scale programming in the spring," Long said.
Waite said it is possible, if turnout is high, that major concerts will become the norm on campus.
"This concert will be a first for UMKC and when the students come out in full force this could mark a tradition in the making," Waite said. "How exciting it is for students to be able to look forward to a big-name performance at UMKC every semester."
