Following the success of last year’s Spring Ball, a performance by electropop group Passion Pit which sold out in three hours, A&O Productions has announced that its 2011 Spring Ball will feature mash-up artist Girl Talk, with indie rock group The Walkmen as the opening act.
“Last year, with Passion Pit, the ‘dance feel’ for the show was hugely successful,” said Weinberg junior Allison Zuzelo, A&O’s director of concerts. “We wanted to play off of that.”
This year’s event will be on April 15, once again at The Riviera Theatre in Chicago. Tickets go on sale April 8 at 10:30 a.m. through the Norris Box Office, and will cost $10 for undergraduate students and $15 for graduate students.
Girl Talk, whose birth name is Gregg Michael Gillis, is known for remixing popular songs and experimenting with electronic sounds. Critics have compared The Walkmen, who frequently perform with an upright piano, to groups such as The Velvet Underground and U2.
“We’re very excited for (the Ball) to be coming up and it’ll bring an interesting mix to our total programming,” Communication senior Stefanie Goliszewski, co-director of promotions and public relations, said.
Goliszewski and Zuzelo said Girl Talk and The Walkmen both received positive student responses on the organization’s annual poll, which was an important aspect of why they were chosen.
Goliszewski also said A&O wanted to bring acts different from hip-hop artists Snoop Dogg and Kid Cudi, who performed at A&O’s Fall Blowout on Oct. 15.
“We want something that appeals to the student body, and with Snoop Dogg and Kid Cudi that was a specific genre we could reach,” Goliszewski said. She said bringing Girl Talk and The Walkmen will mix it up.
“With having that variety, different people will get different things out of the performance and it’ll appeal to everyone on some level,” she said.
The doors for this year’s concert will open at 7 p.m. and the show will begin at 8 p.m. Capacity at The Riviera is about 2,300. A&O will provide transportation in buses for students to and from the venue.
Zuzelo said Girl Talk is known to perform well and draw a large crowd, which Goliszewski said gives A&O assurance in its decision.
“We’re confident students will like our act,” she said.
