University of Virginia Library

Careless Concert

It has become painfully obvious that the
PK-German Society is unable to cope with the
responsibilities inherent in presenting big
weekend entertainment. Saturday night's debacle
in University Hall continued a string of
embarrassing failures that reflect the lack of
organization, planning, and foresight on the
part of the dance and concert societies. For
the handful of couples that attended the John
Sebastian and Hugh Masekela performances, it
was again made blatantly apparent that those
tasked with the duty of presenting a concert
have little understanding of their duties.

Again, as has happened repeatedly in the
past, the concert did not begin on time.
Again, as has happened repeatedly in the past,
the sound reproduction was not nearly adequate.
Again, as has happened repeatedly in
the past, the performers had to constantly
compete with the concessionaires for the
audience's attention.

We can find no reasons why a concert,
contracted and advertised to begin at a
specific time, cannot begin at that time. For
too long we have listened to excuses such as
"the equipment has not arrived" and "the
performers are in Charlottesville, but have
been momentarily delayed." It is the responsibility
of the PK-German Society to see long in
advance that all equipment and performers are
ready to begin at the scheduled time. Yet
concert after concert, audiences have had to
wait for another amplifier or the fourth
member of a group to arrive. The need for
communication and understanding between
the society and the performers seems to us to
be a primary prerequisite for a successful
concert, but one that has been significantly
neglected.

There is no reason why a performer who
earns his living with his musical talent should
have to contend with electrical distortion
from faulty or overlooked equipment. The
failure of the PK-German Society to realize
that the air conditioner would interfere with
John Sebastian's performance was a technical
oversight that resulted in the ruination of his
first three numbers. Not only is such an error
an obvious display of the society's lack of
foresight, it is a direct affront to a performer,
to say nothing of the audience who paid
money to see and hear a concert free of
distractions.

It is inconceivable to us how the concert
societies can allow the continuous disruption of
musical acts by the concessionaires who line
the outskirts of the audience. The constant
counting of change, banging of equipment,
and talking by the employees only adds
confusion and makes audible comprehension
impossible. We feel that if the PK-German
Society had been aware of this problem that
has made itself so apparent in the past, it
could have easily been alleviated by requesting
the refreshment vendors to delay their closing
activities or at least shutting the doors that
open into the seating areas.

It is clear that if the society has this much
trouble in presenting a concert, they can not
help but be overwhelmed by the problems
involved in scheduling and contracting entertainers.
Joe Fioravanti, president of the PK
Society, in an attempt to side-tract foreseeable
criticism, stated in last Friday's Cavalier Daily
that "(People) don't realize how difficult it is
to arrange a concert." Mr. Fioravanti views his
job as "trying to be a peoples' man in musical
taste," and "trying to please as many people
as you can."

We sympathize with Mr. Fioravanti in that
it is indeed difficult to present entertainment
that will please everyone. But, we feel, it is
not such a rigorous task to employ entertainment
that would be acceptable to the widest
cross-section of students possible. For instance,
a concert which consisted of a soul
group and a rock group would seem to, at
least in part, represent the musical tastes of
the majority of students.

Mr. Fioravanti also said that "many people,
disappointed by the rumors which failed
to materialize, will not attend and will blame
the PK-German society for not providing a
more attractive show." We do not wish to
level criticism at Mr. Fioravanti for what
seems to have been a last minute scheduling,
but it does seem to us that there is no reason
why an admittedly sub-standard concert
should be further plagued by inadequate
planning. — P.C.L.