Students who are COIN fans will have an exclusive opportunity to see the band live Thursday night from the comfort of their own campus. The alternative band will perform in Legends for the annual Student Union Board (SUB) fall concert.
A little over 600 students will be able to attend the concert given the capacity of Legends, Lily Condodina, a director of programming for SUB, said. The smaller venue for the fall concert will allow for a more personal show for the audience. The spring concert, she said, is typically held in the larger Stepan Center.
Tickets for the concert were sold out Tuesday evening after going on sale that morning.
“We sold out of tickets much faster than we anticipated,” Condodina said in an email. “We are all really excited that so many students love COIN and want to come see them perform.”
Due to the pandemic, SUB had to organize its spring concert virtually. Condodina said she is grateful SUB was approved to hold an in-person concert experience this fall.
“We are extremely excited to not only bring live music back to the campus community but deliver to students the true concert experience that so many haven’t been able to enjoy in so long,” she said.
Mary Laird serves as the concerts committee chair for SUB and helps to plan both the fall and spring concerts. As part of her role, she leads a group of students who choose an artist to come to campus.
Laird explained that her team began brainstorming in late June options for a fall concert performer, with the goal of bringing an indie-rock or alternative band to Notre Dame. They also looked at artists’ tour dates and locations to logistically plan for a stop in South Bend.
“Since COIN had a break between Nashville and Chicago, we thought it was a perfect opportunity to bring them to campus,” Laird said in an email.
One challenge in bringing an artist to campus is the price range in booking a performer, Condodina said.
“A lot of artists are a lot more expensive than many would think and it’s difficult to strike a balance between an artist we know students will want to see and one that makes the most sense with the budget,” Condodina said.
Other artists SUB considered for the concert were Peach Tree Rascals, Valley and Bryce Vine, Laird said.
Executive director of SUB Kate McLaughlin said SUB continues to hold concerts biannually because it is a great way to get people together to enjoy an energy-filled night in spaces they walk by on campus every day.
“There’s something uniquely special about having one of your favorite artists travel to South Bend to play a show exclusively for the tri-campus community,” she said in an email.
As executive director, McLaughlin oversees all programming in SUB. For the concert programming specifically, she said facilitates communication between the concert committee and the artist’s team, as well as between other teams — finance, art and marketing — to coordinate funding and promotion.
McLaughlin described planning concerts as “one of the best opportunities” she has received within SUB.
“You’re able to experience all of the behind-the-scenes details and effort that go into contracting a large-scale event,” McLaughlin said. “Seeing all of that work play out on the night of the concert is really rewarding.”
