Plexapalooza returns on Sunday, Apr. 14, when the Bingo Players-an electric dance music (EDM) group best known for their single “Cry (Just a Little)”-will take over the Plex basketball courts. The Dutch duo, which will be fresh off its performance at the California music festival Coachella, will play until midnight in the Plex show, which is jointly hosted this year by UGBC’s Campus Entertainment department, the Residence Hall Association (RHA), and Nights on the Heights (NOTH).
“This is exciting because we’re collaborating with RHA and Nights on the Heights, and it’s kind of like a big coming-out party for all the things these groups together can accomplish,” said Mike Cavoto, director of Campus Entertainment and A&S ’13. “There’s a lot of money involved in these-and these people know what they’re talking about, in all these organizations, and when they work together there’s a lot of perspectives, and I think that this show is really going to speak for itself in terms of quality and how much fun people have.”
According to Cavoto, while the budget for the Bingo Players show has not yet been finalized, the three groups each contributed a comparable amount to the concert’s funding.
“We wanted to go in a bit of a different direction this year,” said Dan Rimm, deputy director of Campus Entertainment and CSOM ’13, about the artist choice. “In the past, what we’ve done for Plex shows is we’ve typically taken smaller acts, mash-up acts, and made the Plex show experience sell itself, as opposed to the artist. This year, what we want to do with the rise of EDM, and how we’ve cancelled the Spring Concert, is we wanted to make a bigger show that a lot more students would enjoy.” He described Bingo Players as an up-and-coming act, citing its recent slew of music festivals as evidence of its rising popularity.
Rimm said that capacity for this event has been increased from that of Plex shows in the past by 500 people-the Bingo Players concert will be able to accommodate 1800 students. Tickets go on sale Monday, Apr. 8, on the Robsham Theater website, and are $22 each. Students can purchase two tickets with their BC ID. Doors will open at 8:30 p.m. and close at 9:45 p.m. on the night of Apr. 14.
“Instead of having a really little-name Plex show, a medium Spring Concert, and a medium Modstock, what we decided is we want to do a big Modstock and a big Plex show, because everyone knows that concerts in Conte are fun, but with the chairs, it kind of gets in the way,” Rimm said. “So if we could really bring that kind of entertainment to students within the Plex, where they have room to dance and really have a good time, we thought that we might as well spend our money in that way.”
Plexapalooza will not be the only event of what Cavoto and Rimm termed “Marathon Weekend,” however. Cavoto stressed the desire to create a weekend around Boston College school spirit, and said that he hoped to see the beginnings of a tradition. In line with that vision, Apr. 14 will also see the annual BC Boardwalk, a free carnival of food, games, and rides, co-sponsored with the RHA; and a Field Day, co-sponsored by BC Athletics.
The Boardwalk, which has previously been held on O’Neill Plaza, will be held in the Mod Lot from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. “We just want to make it a really fun atmosphere, so that you can get outside your dorm and really do something, walk around-everyone loves a carnival, and how often do we get to go to a carnival as college students?” Rimm said.
The Field Day, which is partially sponsored by Coke and ’47 Brand, will be named “Battle of the Classes,” and will pit the four grades against each other in various games such as corn hole, Wiffle ball, relay races around the Reservoir, and intramural sports. Each activity will involve smaller prizes, and the event as a whole will include t-shirts and other giveaways. The winning class will receive a trophy, which, according to Cavoto, Campus Entertainment is working to get placed inside a Conte display case. Signups for the Field Day begin Friday.
Cavoto and Rimm have been working to coordinate the Apr. 14 events, in tandem with RHA, NOTH, and Athletics, since the beginning of the semester-even earlier in the case of the Plex show and Field Day. “[It’s] something to get people really excited to go to BC,” Rimm said. “Everyone knows the weekend’s great as it is, but what do we do as the undergraduate government? … If we can make that weekend just a little bit more fun, I think that would meet our goal.”
“It’s already one of the most fun weekends at BC, and we just want to make it that much better,” Cavoto added.
