University of Virginia Library

P K German, Union Coalition Proposed

News Analysis

By Rob Buford
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Whatever happened to the Midwinters
concert? Well, you see, it's like this:
months ago, one James Taylor of
Nantucket, Mass. was booked by P-K
German president Tom Sansonetti for an
appearance here Feb. 9. Those
negotiations, which were in the works as
recently as late December, became the
beginning of the end.

The debacle which ensued, Mr.
Taylor's cancellation, and subsequent
negotiations with Miles Davis, Roberta
Flack and other prospective acts sought out to
replace Mr. Taylor, has aborted P-K German's
traditional February festivities and caused a
general uproar among local music lovers.

Leaving off the gruesome chain of
circumstances, which for Mr. Sansonetti had
become a living nightmare by last week when
the Midwinters cancellation was announced, the
next question had become: What about Easters?

Everyone, it seemed, had his own ideas.
Student Council President Kevin Mannix
announced a meeting today at 2 PM for anyone
"upset about the concert situation." That
gathering will occur in the student government
offices in Newcomb Hall, and, if Mr. Mannix
prevails, could make way for a concert
coordinating committee to be organized within
the Student Council's auspices.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sansonetti had been
working out his own plans with University
Union leaders Clay Spencer and Bill Parrish,
and announced tentative plans for a
"semi-merger" between his own group, which
has been the traditional booking sponsoring
agency for big weekend concerts, and the
Union, which may be the only University group
with the funds available for he cut throat
competition of the new rock market.

"While costs of getting first-rate
entertainment have skyrocketed," Mr.
Sansonetti noted, "the bottom has been falling
out of the concert music market." He cited
Fillmore magnate Bill Graham's shift of
emphasis from live appearances to films and
tapes. This has become the case increasingly at
Mr. Graham's New York Fillmore East.

Local Problems

As for Charlottesville, where problems of
booking and securing groups have been
somewhat more pronounced, the question was
far from settled. Newcomb Hall Directory John
Herring, who has been long critical of the lack
of coordination between the various student
groups which sponsor concerts for profit, felt
the Midwinters fiasco provided ample evidence.

"I know of no other major university," he
remarked, "where the concert situation is as
disorganized as it is here." Whereas in the past
last-minute substitutions, shoddy sound
systems and late starts had raised suspicion that
all was not what it might be, this latest of
developments virtually demanded a new sort of
approach.

Under Mr. Sansonetti's proposed plan, P-K
German would retain its traditional structure,
officers and a large degree of autonomy. The
University Union would act as sponsor in the

strict financial sense, providing the funds to
"guarantee" a group its payment, thus
permitting P-K German to proceed with
contractual arrangements.

P-K's long-standing connections with
individual agents and booking agencies, Mr.
Sansonetti reasoned, would thereby remain,
while the Union put-up the money. As in the
past, P-K would take care of the "dirty work"
of publicity, arrangements for a location and the
specific matters attendant on any given
contract.

Income Crisis

In financial terms, the overriding crisis for
P-K German (and for concerts generally) lies
with its income from Newcomb Hall Bookstore,
might help there. But perhaps the more pressing
concern, that of coordination, will require a
larger effort among the various interested
groups.

Circle K, for example, which is primarily a
service organization, ad handles occasional
concerts on the side, has remained unwilling to