Nice Weather Blesses Swingin' Springfest

The Undergraduate Council didn't get the high-priced band it wanted for yesterday's Springfest--and after a Friday afternoon foul-up, it didn't get $2,300 worth of amusements, either--but at the end of the day, an exhausted council was able to declare victory.

Students said Big Bad Voodoo Daddy proved a cheap but acceptable headlining alternative to George Clinton and thousands turned out to support five student bands and sample Harvard Dining Services' food. Most importantly, the sun was out.

"The weather is smiling upon Harvard University and the Undergraduate Council right now, and all is right in Cambridge," mused former council Vice President Kamil E. Redmond '00 as she danced to the music of Mieka Pauley '01, whose band warmed up the crowd for Voodoo Daddy.

But the MAC Quad looked emptier than it usually does because of the conspicuous absence of an inflatable moonwalk and a sumo wrestling ring.

According to Council President Fentrice D. Driskell '01, the Magic World amusement company--which provided the council with these popular diversions for last year's Springfest--backed out of its contract with the council at 4 p.m. on Friday. That was the deadline set by the City of Cambridge for the company to obtain insurance for its amusements.

When the clock struck four and nothing was insured, Magic World broke its agreement--much to the chagrin of Springfest organizers.

"If we were rich and powerful, maybe we'd look into pursuing legal action," said Campus Life Committee (CLC) member Vladimir A. Kleyman '02.

But on Friday by 5 p.m., the council was already trying to figure out how to create its own homemade amusements, shuttling over to Toys 'R' Us to pick up water balloons, remote control cars, a plethora of balls and sporting equipment and other toys that they hoped could take the place of a moonwalk, Kleyman said.

The council rented machines to make shaved ice, popcorn and cotton candy--though Kleyman said the $1,000 needed to rent equipment to make last year's popular fried dough wasn't worth it.

And council members said they were pleased with the final results.

"We ended up having a cheaper Springfest with more people," said Kleyman, who pointed out that the $15,000 the council spent on Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was $8,000 less than it took to lure the Violent Femmes to campus last year.

Some claimed it may have been the best-attended Springfest ever.

Many council members argued that there were more people yesterday than at last year's event--and no one can remember a Springfest that drew more students than last year's.

Driskell said she thought more than 3,500 students made appearances at some point during the afternoon.

CLC Co-Chair Stephen N. Smith '02 said there were some good reasons for the large turnout: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's swing act was well-suited to live performance, the increase in student bands from two to five drew more friends of performers, some prefrosh were still on campus and, of course, it didn't rain.

And some said there were benefits to a Springfest without inflatable amusements.

"The amusements not being there focused attention on the bands, which is what it's all about," said M. Kate Richey '03, who is secretary of the Finance Committee.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy played to a relatively enthusiastic crowd, which included a healthy number of aspiring swing dancers.

Kleyman said the band did a good job of pumping up the crowd and getting it involved.

At one point, the lead singer of the nine-piece band dared the audience to try to repeat after him the lyrics of a famous Duke Ellington tune.

"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing," he sang, and the crowd parroted back loudly. Students had considerably more trouble keeping up when the singer began scatting.

But many students' response to the group was lukewarm.

"They're not offensive," said Keith R. Hahn '03 as he helped staff the Radcliffe Rugby Team's Twizzler concession stand and "Panning for Gold" sandbox.

"It's only upsetting because we have done a lot better," he said. Hahn suggested Weezer, whose lead singer went to Harvard, as a possible alternative.

Another funk band that played yesterday, Fink Fank Funk, said they would have preferred to see George Clinton headline yesterday.

But Jacob E. Fleming '01, a neon-suited tenor saxophonist for Fink Fank Funk, complimented Voodoo Daddy, saying that "they do what they do really well."

Slated to start playing at 4, the band didn't actually emerge until about 4:45--creating a window of dead time that seemed to annoy some audience members.

"They don't want to play for [another] half an hour," council member Jared S. Morgenstern '03 told The Crimson as the crowd began to get restless.

"They were like, 'We just want to chill for a little bit.' And we were like, 'No,'" he said.

Morgenstern said this wasn't the first time the band acted weird. He said that they made strange and "random" demands of the council members in charge of hospitality--for instance, the band requested Quaker Oats, according to Morgenstern.

Yet the dead time gave students a chance to check out other amusements--from throwing logs at the Celtic Society's caber toss to paying $3 to get their picture taken with a life-size cardboard reproduction of Latham A. Boyle '00.

After all the students had left, council members were reflective as 20 of them disassembled the stage and packed up sound equipment instead of holding their normal Sunday night meeting.

Everyone seemed to agree that in spite of what Kleyman said was a weekend of 20-hour workdays for the main organizers, the event was worth it.

A tired Driskell was especially happy.

"People don't realize how hard the council works," she said, hoping students will appreciate the efforts of its student government in making SF2K--as the council's orange T-shirts called the event--come together.

"This is something that the campus will be talking about for a while," Driskell said.