"I THINK WE DESERVE A BIGGER NAME"

From The Daily Pennsylvanian, regarding the University of Pennsylvania's decision to book Sonic Youth as the headliner for their Spring Fling campus concert, and the resulting outrage among the student body.

Sonic Youth -- an underground punk-rock band -- will headline this year's Spring Fling concert, Social Planning and Events Committee officials announced yesterday.

SPEC Concert directors say they are going for "a whole new feel" this year, as opposed to the hip-hop artists that have performed in the past few years.

"Who are they?" College freshman Elizabeth Jefferson asked. "I've never heard of them."

Wharton junior Lloyd Thomas said he feels "disappointed," especially considering what some other schools have performing this year.

For example, Snoop Dogg will be headlining Cornell's Slope Day concert and Ben Folds will be playing at Brown's Spring Weekend.

"I think we deserve a bigger name," Thomas said.

College sophomore Sheila Houser said that "it's great that the University is reaching out to bands that not many people have heard of," while noting that "twenty bucks is a lot to pay for a couple of bands that I don't really know that much about."

Oh! And check out of some of the student comments posted at the site:

sonic youth (kind of funny that a bunch of old losers still call themselves "youth") was in the midst of the grunge era but not nearly as influential as the other bands. they are, and will be remembered as a band that fit in with the times but didn't break much ground on their own, much like soundgarden and bush (who i wouldn't mind seeing). nirvana is very influential but just because they are, and sonic youth came out before them and they are relatively the same genre, you can't say that sonic youth is as influential as nirvana. that's blasphemy! also, you can't call sonic youth a real underground band. underground usually means that a band never was mainstream and doesn't strive to be. sonic youth on the other hand tried to market themselves as mainstream and failed, so their characterization as "underground" means "can't sell tickets because they are a bunch of losers".

and

This band fucking blows. They're a bunch of washed up losers. If SPEC was going to hire these clowns why didn't they just go and get the cast of the surreal life...they're just as washed up and just as bad. If they really wanted to get a good non hip-hop band what's wrong with Jimmy Eat World, Saves the Day, The Format, & Taking Back Sunday????

Personally you couldn't pay me to watch Sonic Youth. I'll definitely be going to the Jimmy Eat World/Taking Back Sunday/The Format show on 4/15 at the Tweeter Center in Camden.