CUAB to host Final Four watch party after 2 Chainz Jubilee concert

A Final Four watch party will immediately follow the 2 Chainz Jubilee concert, which is scheduled to run from 8 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, the Carolina Union Activities Board announced Wednesday.

The doors for Jubilee will open at 7 p.m. and 2 Chainz will take the stage at 8 p.m. The show will end at 9 p.m., after which CUAB will encourage students to congregate at Hooker Fields. The Final Four game starts at about 8:50 p.m. and will be screened on a jumbo LED screen on Hooker Fields, according to a press release from CUAB.

Since UNC reached the Final Four, the Jubilee Facebook event has been filled with students trying to sell their tickets.

“I think when we realized that we advanced to the Final Four, we obviously realized there was a conflict with the timing, or so it seemed,” said Ami Patel, CUAB vice president of programming. “I think students selling tickets definitely encouraged us to find a compromise.”

The release said the show cannot start earlier due to insufficient staffing.

CUAB said the 2 Chainz team has been very accommodating.

“They understand that basketball is a big, important thing to this school and that advancing to this game is important to the students as well as 2 Chainz coming to campus,” Patel said.

And southern hospitality has been extended to 2 Chainz as well.

“We’ve presented the idea,” CUAB vice president of external affairs Jessie Beach said about 2 Chainz attending the Final Four viewing party. “We’re hoping he’ll bite and do it, but that’s not something we’ll know until last minute.”

The post-concert screening of the basketball game is free and open to all. It will include refreshments.

Beach said student reaction to the announcement has been positive.

“Part of the reason we came to this compromise is because we really wanted to give students that great experience of having that awesome Jubilee concert that we’ve been promising all year and also celebrate UNC and all of the things our basketball team is doing,” Beach said.

Many students have reacted positively to the announcement.

“It’s better to do it together than apart,” junior Erica Day said.

Sophomore Clare MacDonald said she hopes this helps after she’s seen so many students trying to sell their tickets.

“I feel bad for them,” she said. “Their timing was kind of bad.”

Earlier in the week, CUAB said availability of the artist and of the venue factored into planning, making the only two dates available April 1 or April 15, which falls during a long weekend when students might be out of town.

Patel said the floor seats sold out within the first hour of being on sale and the lower level balcony seats sold out before Spring Break.

Now comes the week of work before Saturday night’s fun.

“I think we’re stressed and excited,” Beach said. “Ever since we’ve won over the weekend, we’ve been really working 24/7 to make this happen.”

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