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LAYIN' DOWN THE LAW ... Jude likes the ladies in the NYC playboy remake "Alfie." PAGE 6 ■ WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY? ... UNC's hip lil' station celebrates 10 years of webcasting. PAGE 8
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When
-Dome
BY JACKIE RANDELL
STAFF WRITER
Urn he curse of the Dean Dome” might sound odd
to some.
But when taking a look at the facts, it seems to
be more than mere superstition.
The Smith Center, hallowed home of the UNC men’s
basketball team since 1986, once played host to a litany of
big-name concerts when the Tar Heels weren’t playing, and
usually beating, their ACC opponents.
Pink Floyd in 1987. Bob Dylan ayear later on his “Neverending
Tour.” R.E.M. on its Monster tour. The Smashing Pumpkins
at the height of their post-Mellon Collie fame.
Recently, though, the tide has
turned.
There have been successes in
recent years —but most of them
haven’t been at the Smith Center.
Bruce Springsteen rocked out.
in 2003, but that was at Kenan
Stadium. OutKast’s fabled, abort
ed 2000 concert took place at
Carmichael
Auditorium.
The last
group to roll
through the
Dean Dome was
the Barenaked
Ladies. In
2000.
Then began
the cancella
tions. R.E.M.
“The Dean Dome has
inherent problems
with dealing with
the Pavilion at
Walnut Creek.”
FRANK HEATH, cat's cradle manager
was scheduled for a return jaunt to
campus, but rescheduled for Raleigh’s
Alltel Pavilion. Hip-hop star Nas was
looking to take his New York state of
mind down south this April, but he
canceled before the show.
So the question arises is the
Dean Dome cursed?
Given its size and location on
campus, it would be expected that’
the University could readily and
consistently draw in popular acts.
But thanks to a more competitive
marketplace and higher ticket prices,
that’s not always the way it works.
“In the ’Bos, the Dean Smith
Center attracted some good bands,”
said Frank Heath, owner and man
ager of Cat’s Cradle.
Things have changed since then.
Diveisions
Alltel Pavilion, for example, serves
as a venue where students from the
Tbi angle’s three large campuses and
other smaller schools can converge,
increasing revenue while remaining
accessible to those in college.
“I think that the Dean Dome has
inherent problems with dealing with
the Pavilion at Walnut Creek,” Heath
said.
N.C. State’s
new RBC Center
has hosted a
variety of big
name shows,
though it tends
to lean toward
top-40 acts and
older stars. The
venue recently
hosted Bette
Midler and was able to attract an
older demographic more inclined to
pay for expensive tickets, said Don
Luse, director of the Carolina Union
at UNC.
Corporations have entered the
fray as well.
Clear Channel Inc. is now Alltel
Pavilion’s promoter, giving the venue
a competitive edge it did not have in
the ’Bos. With millions of dollars to
attract bands and a promise of larg
er crowds, the pavilion trumps the
Smith Center’s big name chances.
“They have their hands in a lot
more things,” said Heath.
Heath also said the Smith Center
now faces a sort of Catch-22. Because
SEE DEAN DOME, PAGE 6
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Once a stomping ground for big-ticket talent, the Dean Dome and
UNC have had trouble in recent years. Acts such as R.E.M. (below)
and Eric Clapton were among the last to see Smith Center lights.
W Mr "
THE CAMPUS COLISEUM
BEARS A MYSTERIOUS
BOOKING CURSE
BUT UNC’S PAST
REVEALS A HISTORY
OF SUCCESSFUL CONCERTS
Annals of UNC
memory include
high-profile acts
Officials speak on
landmark events
BY KRISTEN WILLIAMS
SENIOR WRITER
The Mamas and the Papas
dealt with poor acoustics in
Carmichael Gymnasium, so what
was OutKast’s problem?
Yes, canonized acts such as The
Mamas and the Papas performed
on campus, and they weren’t
alone. Despite the decline in the
number of quality musicians and
acts playing on UNC’s campus in
recent years, it once was a hotbed
for major acts and festivals.
From Memorial Hall to
Carmichael Gymnasium to the
“Tin Can,” campus was a major
venue for touring artists, giving
them the opportunity to cater to
student audiences on their turf.
Martha Clampitt McKay, an
alumna of UNC, is quoted as stat
ing, “A simply mad, mad time is
had by all on Jubilee weekend.
An outdoor concert on that week
end turns the mall between South
Building and the [Wilson] library
into a sea of swinging cats. Holy
Administration! It’s great.”
Her statement appears in
“Light on the Hill: A History of
the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill” by William D.
Snider.
Perhaps the explanation for the
stronger history of music, more so
than present day’s lapse in on cam
pus music performance, lies in the
acts themselves. Maybe OutKast
and other groups have the gump
DTH FILE PHOTO
®ljp lailtj Sar MM
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2004
tion to take risks artistically, but
not to cater to fans for a cheaper
price than Alltel Pavilion.
Don Luse has worked as the
director of the Union since 1992,
aiding in booking performance art
acts as well as musical gigs. While
UNC students might look down the
road to Duke University and note
its success with campus perfor
mances from high-profile artists,
Luse said that across the country,
colleges are having a harder time
booking acts than in the past.
“It’s definitely a business and
you have to understand that,” Luse
said. “This is the way artists make
their living, so there is a market
value to their talent and that’s how
they earn their living. It’s not out of
the goodness of their heart.”
That might be true now, where
many artists seem to bow to the
almighty dollar, but groups that
treated students between the
1960 sand 1980s were still able to
bank on performing on campus.
While Luse helped bring acts such
as Phish, The Roots and String
Cheese Incident to UNC, these acts
still pale in comparison to Duke’s
reining in of Kanye West, Ludacris
and Wilco in recent years.
Clearly though, the University
of old had better luck in the per
formance department and cur
rent faculty were here to reap the
benefits of bands and artists such
as Taj Mahal, the Isley Brothers
and Dionne Warwick, who graced
Tar Heels with concerts in various
campus arenas.
While some of the acts appeared
SEE HISTORY , PAGE 6
DTH FILE PHOTO