Christian pop-punk band Relient K is set to make their Biola debut at the annual Associated Students spring concert on Saturday in the Chase Gymnasium, with pop-rock bands We Shot the Moon and The Workday Release opening.
“[Relient K was] available on the day and they fit within our price range so that we could have openers for them and they’re really excited to come,” said senior Kelsey Seitz, AS vice president of services.
Variety of criteria met to get Relient K
Many factors played into getting Relient K for the spring concert. Beginning the planning in September 2011, AS Social Board began planning for the spring concert in September 2011. With their budget in mind, they looked at a list of bands considering each one’s estimated value. From there, it was simply a process of elimination by opening it up to the senate for student input, according to Seitz.
“Relient K is definitely one we’ve been interested in for a while,” said Amanda Tegtmeier, AS Social Board chair.
When looking for opening bands, Tegtmeier said they looked for groups with a similar sound to Relient K that they thought Biola would enjoy.
“The Workday Release is a Biola grad and has played here before,” Tegtmeier said. “We listened to We Shot the Moon and really enjoyed their style, and they had a good reputation from the other bands they’ve played with.”
Online sales make big difference
This is the first time AS has sold all tickets for the spring concert online. Seitz believes that this has been a positive change.
“It has been revolutionary for us,” Seitz said. “It has made such a difference just in manpower. We don’t have to sit outside the Caf anymore and convince people to go. It’s all online and easy now.”
As of March 28, AS has sold a little more than 1,000 tickets, which is the point they needed to reach to make revenue, according to Tegtmeier.
“[Ticket sales are] definitely exceeding what we’ve sold in the past by quite a lot,” Seitz said.
This year’s sales have already more than doubled last year’s mewithoutYou and Eisley concert, which sold about 400 tickets. AS expects ticket sales to continue to rise substantially this week, Seitz said. Another advantage of online sales is that once all of the information from the website comes in, they will be able to tell how many of those were student sales and how many were non-student.
Presale tickets are $12 for students and $15 for non-students. Ticket presale ends on Thursday, March 29 at 5 p.m., after which tickets can only be purchased at the door on March 31. At that time, tickets will go up to $15 for students and $20 for non-students, according to the Alumni Relations website.
Gym doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the concert scheduled for 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
