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OBERLIN AMONG SPIN’S “CRÈME DES COLLEGES”
SEPTEMBER 29 , 2003—Not only is the Student Union’s Sco’ a much-frequented disco and gathering place, but it has just garnered the College a distinctive place on the Honor Roll of Spin magazine.
The latest issue of the popular chronicler of the alternative-music scene "for cool, trend-setting young adults" announced Oberlin had won Spin’s first annual campus award for music programming.
"Not only has Oberlin become a breeding ground for bands (members of Northern State and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs attended this liberal-arts mecca)," Spin says, "but it also has great taste when it comes to booking acts on campus. With shows by the likes of the Magnetic Fields, Apples in Stereo, At the Drive-In, and Versus, it's a wonder students have any time left for protesting."
What is significant about the award is that it that the "great taste" Spin says the College shows in booking acts is the direct result of the Sco’s unique booking process.
Chris Baymiller, assistant director of the Student Union, says Oberlin is one of the few schools whose concert program is in the charge of students. Colleges and universities in major cities have the advantage of metropolitan venues that draw innovative bands as well as big-name acts. Most other schools usually contract with private companies to bring in a continuing roster of musical groups.
But at Oberlin, Baymiller teaches the students the basics and then stands back while student programmers, such as Jesse Karch ’04 and Brad Walsh ‘04 and four student managers contact agents, negotiate contracts, and keep tabs on the "next big thing" on the national music scene. Student techs also set up and operate all sound equipment. "Concert sound is one of the best in the Midwest," Baymiller adds.
Agents and artists who have dealt with Oberlin during the last two decades know the college is the perfect venue for cutting-edge groups, and word gets around. The method has paid off. In the last 20 years, over 1,000 acts has been brought in to the Sco’, and many later exploded nationally. "We got Blink182 for $2500 just as they were emerging," Baymiller recalls. "Now you can’t touch them for less than $100,000."
Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli
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