It’s time for University of Idaho students to “pop some tags” at the thrift shop because a premier Seattle rap duo is heading to Moscow for Finals Fest.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis most recently broke ground with an independent release of their full-length album “The Heist.” Without a traditional record label, the album took iTunes’ No. 1 spot and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts. The duo’s “Thrift Shop” single is currently the second most popular song, according to Billboard.
Taylor Williams, ASUI Vandal Entertainment board chair, said every UI student is guaranteed a ticket, which will be available April 1-5 in the ASUI office.
To obtain a ticket, students must bring their Vandal cards, and this year, one non-perishable food item. All of the food collected will go to the UI Food Pantry, which will seek to provide low-income students with food security.
There will also be about 40 back-stage passes available, which Willams said is rare for Finals Fest. Students can “like” Vandal Entertainment’s Facebook page to get details during the remainder of the semester on how to win passes. Williams said there might be Facebook contests, and students may be able to enter into raffles by attending certain events.
Williams said a lot of planning went into this year’s Finals Fest, which is a collaboration between her and Director of Student Involvement Colleen Quinn, Assistant Director of Student Involvement Katie Dahlinger, Director of Administrative and Fiscal Operations Debbie Huffman as well as UI Sound, Production and Lighting. After Palousafest, Williams said she started contacting bands, but said several were dead ends.
She said she came up with the idea for Macklemore partly through personal observation, as the marching band plays “Thrift Shop” at football games because several people listen to it on the weekends, whether it’s at someone’s house or a restaurant.
“I know a lot of people have loved Macklemore forever, but now he’s starting to get big nationally,” she said.
There were also open meetings where students and Street Team members — a group made up of Vandal Entertainment volunteers — could give suggestions. Students were also able to give their opinions at the ASUI open house.
Macklemore was originally out of Vandal Entertainment’s price range, so Williams said she initially gave up on the idea.
“I started thinking about it more, and figured most of the student body would really like having Macklemore come, which I think is hard to find with a music genre — having an artist that most of the school likes,” she said. “So we made an offer.”
The offer was rejected, because of the price and the fact that Macklemore wasn’t available on the day originally set for Finals Fest. Williams said she was fortunate to get Finals Fest changed to May 3, and she talked to several staff members to go over the budget one more time.
“I was able to make a second offer, and he accepted it,” Williams said.
The funding for Finals Fest comes from student fees. Fifteen dollars of every UI student’s fees goes to Vandal Entertainment, to cover all the events it puts on throughout the year — from Palousafest to comedians, small concerts and films in the Borah Theater.
“(Finals Fest) is a bargain when you think of it that way,” Williams said.
There will also be 500 tickets available to the public that can be purchased through the UI Ticket Office. Public tickets cost $15 at the office, and there’s an added $5 service fee for tickets purchased on the Internet or over the phone.
Britt Kiser can be reached at [email protected]
Finals Fest only ‘99 cents’