I am happy to see that local bands are being considered for more Veishea involvement than previous years. Unbeknownst to most Iowa State students, there are many good bands of all genres lurking around the Ames music scene. I say lurking because there are not many chances for these bands to be brought out into the public eye.

The support for local music is there, it just never has a chance to reach its full potential due to lack of places to play regularly. A new student group, the Ames Area Music Group, is trying to strengthen that support, and I suggest that the Veishea Committee pool resources with the AAMG on the upcoming Veishea concert. I also suggest this – make it a combination show of local and national acts. Bring in a headlining band that will draw a crowd and also get 2 to 3 local openers that will also draw a large loyal crowd.

My logic is if $30,000 was spent on the Vertical Horizon and Five for Fighting show last year, a lot of that money had to go to paying the two traveling bands. If only one traveling band is brought in and paid a large sum, Veishea could be gracious and pay the local openers a (relatively) small fee of around $250, which is a better take than a local band could get playing just about anywhere else in Ames. This would cut down the cost of paying the musical acts, increase attendance in turn increasing revenue, and help out the ever-struggling Ames music scene.

Paul Friemel

Sophomore

Graphic Design