Lorna Rose and Michelle Campbell saw the image in their heads: the two of them standing onstage in the Carrier Dome in front of a crowd of cheering students.

‘Welcome to our house party,’ they would say. ‘Are you ready to get this going, Syracuse?’

After hearing reactions from students about this year’s Block Party lineup, Rose, a first-year law student, and Campbell, a senior civil engineering major, wanted to arrange another concert titled ‘House Party.’ The event would have been held the night before MayFest and would have featured seven well-known hip-hop artists. But complications securing a venue ultimately halted their plans.

Even before Block Party was announced, there was interest in putting on a show in Syracuse. The planning stages started in late March, when Rose was discussing another event with Norris Taylor, president and event coordinator of concert production company Carefree Nation.

Once Block Party’s lineup was released to a less than positive response, Rose had a stronger incentive to go through with her plans.

‘MayFest is the biggest deal of the whole school year, besides the basketball season, let’s be honest,’ she said. ‘And for graduating seniors who are never going to be able to do this again, for people who look forward to Block Party, it’s really disappointing.’

When Rose asked friends who they would like to see in concert, a few named some of the artists she later booked for the show. She said she cannot disclose the seven artists, as they are no longer contractually committed to the event, but she described the headliner as a big-name DJ, along with six other established artists who have songs on major hip-hop radio stations.

However, multiple roadblocks hindered Rose and Campbell’s plans, especially the time constraint of planning a concert in less than a month and securing a location. When venues downtown were booked, Rose said they tried the Alliance Bank Stadium and the New York State Fairgrounds. She also considered places as far away as Turning Stone Resort and Casino.

Rose then said she contacted Peter Sala, senior associate director of athletics and managing director at the Dome. Two days after she proposed her idea, Sala responded that the Dome was unavailable.

The Dome is scheduled to host the chancellor’s review of the ROTC troops April 26 and was therefore unable to host the event, Sala said. Rose inquired about other dates to use the Dome, Sala said, and he reached out to Kenny Consor, director of UU Concerts, to inform him Rose was looking for a day to hold her concert.

UU President Rob Dekker said UU has no official say in what concert events are held in the Dome.

Bothered that she could not use the Dome, Rose said she ‘got a little impolite’ and tweeted at UU. Dekker then sent her an email to find out more and clarify that UU was not solely responsible for the change in her plans.

Dekker said UU embraces diverse programming, and Rose’s concert would not have prevented Block Party from happening. The placement of the event would be inconvenient for both parties, he said. If Rose were to use a different stage in the Dome, it could cost UU more money and time to set up its own stage afterward.

Although Dekker isn’t aware of Rose’s resources, he said he thinks the concert would be difficult to host because of the time constraint and limited knowledge of concert production.

‘They would have maybe had tickets on sale for two weeks before the show,’ Dekker said. ‘There’s no way you can sell that many tickets in two weeks to promote properly and get awareness out.’

Rose said she understands and respects the reasoning behind UU’s decision. She said she realizes the student organization should come first, considering officials booked the event before she did.

Rose will keep trying to hold this concert ‘until the very last possible minute.’ Until then, she and Campbell are working with Carefree Nation to host more concerts in upstate New York and expand to cities like Boston.

‘I don’t think of a ‘no’ as a red light,’ Rose said. ‘I think of it as a yellow light that you have to hit the gas pedal to get through before it turns red. So we’re on the yellow light right now.’

mjberner@syr.edu

Published on April 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm