Snoop Dogg concert moved to Raleigh Amphitheater

A free concert featuring hip-hop superstar Snoop Dogg will be held April 23 at the Raleigh Amphitheater, after talks between event organizers and University officials stalled, sources said.

But it remains unclear which branch of the University’s event management team refused to host the event on campus.

Planning for the concert — won through a Facebook contest promoting Electronic Arts’ video game — “Bulletstorm,” ran into problems due to its commercial aspects.

UNC’s facility use policy forbids the use of state-owned property for events with a specific commercial purpose put on by a group not affiliated with the University.

“UNC was not receptive to having the concert on campus due to the promotion of ‘Bulletstorm’ being tied to the concert,” EA Campus Representative Tyler Bronzino wrote in an email.

After EA agreed to remove the promotional portion of the concert in order to allow the concert to move forward, the University stopped returning EA’s phone calls, Bronzino said.

Nate Lerner, events planning manager for the Carolina Union, said his office had not heard from EA beyond an initial phone call in March.

Lerner’s office manages scheduling for a majority of spaces on the UNC campus. If his office did not coordinate the concert, it is possible that the athletic facilities management would have had a say.

Athletic facilities management staff have indicated that they have not received calls from EA.

Bronzino, a UNC senior, has said in interviews that the planning aspects of the concert were left up to his superiors at EA.

When reached Tuesday, EA Campus Rep Program Coordinator Summer Bradley declined to comment on the concert’s planning process.

“Honestly, Tyler probably knows a lot more about this than I do,” Bradley said. “I know there were a lot of concerns about hosting this on campus, but we want to make sure that only students are able to go to the concert.”

Bradley also stressed that while any contact with the University would have been to coordinate the details of the concert, EA has always intended to cover the entire cost of the event.

In March, The Daily Tar Heel reported that EA had contacted the Carolina Union Activities Board to potentially help host the concert as part of an end-of-term celebration.

EA officials have indicated that their events management office will handle all of the concert’s details.

CUAB President Tyler Mills said that he’s happy the concert is moving forward.

“We didn’t have anything to do with it, but I’m glad to have it happen for the students,” Mills said. “It didn’t really make any sense for us to get involved.”

Students who voted for the concert online will get first pick for tickets, Bronzino said, and EA will sponsor free bus shuttles for students between campus and Raleigh.

“I am sure students will be disappointed that the concert cannot be held on campus, as am I,” Bronzino said. “But I really hope a lot of kids make it out for the show.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.