Rounding up entertainment for Veishea 2000 is no small feat. Finding a band on tour that will play for the Iowa State family without asking for an arm and a leg is harder than you might think. Comedians are a fickle lot and the better they are the harder they are to book.

The Veishea 2000 Entertainment Committee began its search in November for bands and comedians for Veishea Center Stage, Dew the Rec and the Taste of Veishea stages.

Tom Duncan, junior in mechanical engineering, is entertainment co-chair of Veishea. Duncan has worked hard looking for entertainment lineup that will satisfy the many different preferences of ISU students.

“I think students are going to like who we’ve booked,” he said. “We’ve got a very diverse lineup. They are all very good bands the Ames and Iowa State community will enjoy.”

Some of the things Duncan said the committee looked for were bands with a variety of styles on the verge of becoming big name bands and a diversity in food for the event.

“For the Taste of Veishea stage, we looked in the spring at smaller name bands that are on the upswing,” he said. “One of the things we tried to get were a diverse group of performers and food. We have Chinese, Greek, Mexican. We’re trying to bring in things you wouldn’t see here in Ames to make it a unique experience.”

Eric Yarwood, graduate student in higher education, is one of this year’s Veishea advisers. He has played a key role in booking entertainment, due in no small part to his experience as Maintenance Shop coordinator.

“I work with the committee and help them with contracts,” Yarwood said. “I make sure all the Is are dotted and the Ts are crossed. I’ve been working at the Union for the last three years and this is the first year I’ve been an adviser. I got pulled into it because of my work with the Maintenance Shop.”

The search was not always an easy one. When booking entertainment, there are always unforeseen factors that come into play.

“It was a trying year to put it mildly,” Yarwood said. “We went through many options and there were not a lot available. We started looking really heavily back in January with Smash Mouth and it kind of worked progressively until we were able to get Black Eyed Peas.”

Yarwood said many of the bands considered could not perform at Veishea for any number of reasons.

“We started out using a concert promoter and I ended up doing the bookings for the show,” he said. “MTV Campus Invasion are going to Champaign [Ill.] that weekend, they got their stuff in before we did. Smashing Pumpkins would only do 5,000 seats or less. Red Hot Chili Peppers are just too expensive. So many bands are so cost prohibitive any more, the typical concert costs at least $50,000 so it’s really cost prohibitive.

“We looked at Ben Fold’s Five,” Yarwood said.

“There were a lot of people mentioned that just weren’t available or when we got back to them they weren’t touring or available anymore,” he said. “We had Damon Wayans originally, but he backed out on us because he is doing a sitcom.”

Another factor that may have limited Veishea entertainment options is that shows are limited to ISU students and Ames residents on two days.

“It’s kind of tough to get going, there are a lot of challenges,” Yarwood explained. “The fact that they are just performing for the Iowa State family doesn’t help and when you’re down to one or two days, it is harder to find people who do things on those particular days.”

In spite of the obstacles, Yarwood said this year’s entertainment will still be worthwhile.

“The Taste stage is going to be different this year than the past,” Yarwood said. “We have a lot more diversity than people have seen. APAAC [Asian Pacific American Awareness Committee] is bringing in three groups. We have an American Indian rapper named Happy Freejo, Latino Velvet from Oakland, Calif. One night, we’ve got a DJ spinning with Dom’n 8trix from Des Moines, and Friday, Brenda Weiler will perform.”

Veishea 2000 plans to deliver a variety of entertaining options to ISU students and Ames residents. Finding something new will be no problem. The hard work is done, now the ISU family can relax and enjoy the hard work of the Entertainment Committee.