The DAC Pack, Drexel’s official student section, announced Oct. 9 that Dev will headline at this year’s Midnight Madness. The event, which is the official kickoff to the basketball season, will be held Nov. 3 in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
Dev officially agreed to perform at Midnight Madness Oct. 5, and the DAC Pack made the announcement via Twitter and Facebook the following Wednesday. The event is presented by the Dragon Concert Series, which coordinates the concerts hosted by the Campus Activities Board, the DAC Pack and the Drexel Traditions Program. Dev is best known for her single “Bass Down Low” and her song “Booty Bounce,” which was featured in the 2010 hit song “Like a G6.” DJ Sliink and Dirty South Joe have been signed to be the openers.
DAC Pack President Matt Morabito and Vice President Joe Finch have been working for months to prepare for the concert. Morabito sat on the Dragon Concert Series Committee, which has been meeting regularly so that the three organizations can collaborate and make sure they’re planning diverse events. Besides Morabito, the committee consisted of student leaders from CAB and Traditions, the president of the USGA, and faculty advisers.
“A lot of what it comes down to is what works budgetwise. … We take into consideration very carefully who is going to make a good draw, but a lot of the consideration also has to be done moneywise,” Morabito said.
Coordination with potential artists proved to be another factor that had to be taken into consideration while planning Midnight Madness.
“A lot of it is just who’s available. An artist who you may want will be not around on this side of the country or [will be] in Europe, so you have to plan around that,” Finch said.
Earlier in the year, a survey was distributed to gauge student interest in various artists and genres.
“The first thing we do is look at the artists that everyone responded to. We use that a ton. … Maybe not the exact artist that [people] are interested in, but the genre. That really helps us narrow down where the search is going to start,” Morabito said.
Midnight Madness is about more than the music. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be introduced before the concert. Many universities that host similar events have basketball scrimmages as part of the night, but the layout of the DAC prevents Drexel from doing that. At midnight, the DAC Pack will officially release its T-shirt design for the year, which will soon be worn all over campus in support of the basketball teams.
Funding for the concert comes out of the budget for the concert committee, which comes from the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee. The concert budget covers both Midnight Madness and Homecoming, and Morabito estimates that this year’s Midnight Madness will cost around $60,000.
Amanda Moorhead serves as the CAB student representative on the concert committee. She thinks that students should be taking advantage of everything that Drexel offers, especially free events.
“There are tons of things that Drexel plans all year round … but it’s not often that you have these big concert events on your campus for free,” she said.
Midnight Madness tickets are free for Drexel students. Doors will open at 8 p.m. on the night of the concert, and attendees will get a wristband after either showing their DragonCard or paying the $10 guest ticket fee.