Marist’s Student Programming Council recently announced the act that will be performing at the college for the Spring 2013 concert.  SPC revealed on Thursday, Feb. 7 via their Facebook page that the Goo Goo Dolls will be performing at the Marist Riverfront on April 28. The decision process and reveal of the act were different from previous years in that SPC made an effort to integrate and engage student attention.

Every semester SPC meets to discuss plans to bring an act to the Marist campus.  The board puts a series of artists and acts into a pot, all of different genres they think will appeal to the Marist community. Based on a financial budget allotted to the college every year, a decision can then be made. This past fall, comedian and actor BJ Novak performed a stand-up routine in the McCann Center. Last spring, Mike Posner performed at the Riverfront, however the event received poor attendance from the student body. This left expectations high among students waiting for this year’s spring concert reveal.

The countdown to the reveal made the process more interactive. One week prior to the announcement, SPC launched its own Facebook page dedicated to the event titled “SPC Spring Concert: Reveal.” Each day clues were posted about the act allowing students to comment and give their feedback. Some clues included, “this artist has been nominated for three Grammys,” and “the performing group is composed of three members.” Within days of its launch, the page gained heavy traffic with predictions from students. At midnight on Thursday the Facebook page confirmed that the Goo Goo Dolls would be performing.

This alternative rock band is no stranger to the music industry, having top hits such as “Iris,” “Slide” and “Let Love In” that have dominated the Billboard charts. The trio has completed their tenth studio album titled Magnetic with an expected release date in May 2013. With that in mind, students can anticipate a combination of new material along with original songs that brought the band into the spotlight over a decade ago.

“The board was very excited about this choice,” SPC member Christy Cintron said. “We haven’t had as good turnouts as we wanted the past few concerts, and we think that this concert everyone is going to love and that there is going to be a good turnout and a lot of fun.”

“We wanted to have a really big reveal because the band is really big,” she added. “We wanted to make it so everyone would get excited and the hype would get bigger, so we decided to make a countdown on the Facebook website with daily teasers.”

The decision also took into account surveys distributed on campus in the beginning of the school year. Students were asked which genres of music they preferred. The Office of College Activities is also consulted in the decision-making process.

Overall, the reaction to the Goo Goo Dolls concert has been positive. Based on feedback from students, there may be higher numbers in attendance than last spring’s poorly received Mike Posner concert.

“I’m definitely more excited about  this year’s concert than last year,” junior Vicki Cavalli said. “The Goo Goo Dolls are a band that most students listen to and can get excited about.”

Junior Ariana Santana shares Cavalli’s excitement.

“I think it’s a great change,” she said. “The Goo Goo Dolls is a concert that you can genuinely enjoy and that I’ll go to.”

The date of ticket sales has yet to be released, however students can check for updates on the concert’s Facebook page titled “SPC Spring Concert 2013” or SPC’s official website http://clubs.marist.edu/spc/.