Magic! kicks off Homecoming Weekend

ABBY GENTRY
CONTRIBUTOR

Homecoming weekend is filled with exciting events to entertain students, families and alumni. From the football game on Saturday, golf tournaments, kayaking and the Big Blue Bash, there will be no shortage of fun activities to last throughout the weekend. Each year, one of the highlights of Homecoming weekend is the Homecoming concert in front of the Hahn University Center. In years past, bands such as Imagine Dragons and Young The Giant have been the headliners and this year the University of San Diego is excited to welcome reggae fusion band, Magic!.

The artist search for the Homecoming weekend concert is an almost five-month process where the TPB, Torero Program Board, begins to search for artists that are gaining popularity while still in the appropriate budget range. The process began this summer starting by emailing artist agents, campus booking agents and eventually narrowing down the list of appropriate and available artists. Bryan Patrick, the vice chair of media events for TPB, helped collaborate with different individuals on campus on choosing the band.

“Eventually we narrowed it down to Magic! being the best fit once they were approved by administration,” Patrick said. “Magic! gained a bunch of popularity over the summer and got a lot of radio play with the song ‘Rude.’ They also released their first album a couple months back and are about to go on tour with Maroon 5.”
Artists that come to USD to perform must go through a vetting process by the school. Each band must be approved based on USD’s core missions and values.

“These reviews look at artist image, media coverage, music content, lyrics, music videos and an overall fit for USD,” Patrick said.

This process is stricter for the Homecoming concert as opposed to other events because it is such a family-oriented weekend. It is a lengthy and thorough process, which is why it is so important to start so early in advanced.

After almost five months of planning, the process is still going. Once the headliner is selected, then comes the contracting process where both the artist and the school must review all offers and contracts. The contract process involves a lot of back and forth between agents and the school, making the finalization process lengthy. TPB also works with the budget to make the concert a fun experience for both the performers and attendees.

“Not only does budgeting play a role in the selection of the performer, but budget also determines how much can be spent on staging, production and lighting,” Patrick said. “All [these] things make it a great show for students, not just [that] artists are performing.”

While TPB is still waiting for contracting to be finished for the opening act, they are very excited about their selection along with the student opener band, Sweet Talk. Several students were asked about the headlining act Magic! and there were positive responses from many students, especially with their enthusiasm about the hit song, ‘Rude.’

“I’m super stoked and can’t wait, these guys can jam and I can’t wait to vibe to their song ‘Rude,’” freshman Nick Hale said.

Five months in the making, the USD community is looking forward to welcoming the popular band on campus and make the homecoming concert one to remember. The event starts at 6 p.m. on Friday in front of the University Center.