Year in Review: CUAB off to a slow start this year

It took a while for Carolina Union Activities Board to warm up this semester.

The organization’s events have sparked controversy among the student body.

The very first show of the academic year, a concert featuring local folk bands Mipso Trio and Mandolin Orange, was canceled due to weather conditions.

The event was rescheduled for a date more than three months later — this semester’s last day of classes.

The cancellation pushed a concert by rapper Big K.R.I.T. to become CUAB’s first major event of the semester.

The show was also supposed to feature Curren$y, another hip-hop artist, but the rapper had to cancel when he broke his ankle jumping off a stage in Los Angeles.

Although Big K.R.I.T.’s performance cost $7,500 of CUAB’s $364,000 annual budget, less than a third of the concert’s tickets were sold.

The selection of indie rock band The New Pornographers to perform at this year’s Homecoming concert was also questioned.

CUAB members said it was hard to please the whole student body when choosing the band for Homecoming concert.

Zoey LeTendre, CUAB’s program adviser, said in late September that CUAB was trying to reach the usually untargeted graduate student population with this performance.

“They’re kind of a weird band and their type of music is very different,” CUAB President Cierra Hinton said in September.

The performance — contracted for $40,000 — sold only 703 out of 4,500 tickets available in Carmichael Arena, according to unofficial ticket totals.

In early November, CUAB announced that Oscar-nominated director Spike Lee would speak on campus.

Although the announcement raised enthusiasm, 705 of 1,434 available tickets were sold as of Tuesday evening. Lee was contracted for $25,000.

But CUAB’s final planned event of the semester — tonight’s concert by rap group Travis Porter — has proven a success.

The 600 tickets for the show — which was contracted for $14,000 — sold out within two days.

In January, CUAB will host a performance in Memorial Hall by Jeff Mangum, lead singer for indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel.

The Jan. 30 show will be one of Mangum’s first solo shows in many years. It sold out within hours of tickets going on sale.

“Jeff Mangum received a fantastic response from the student body,” said Kinsey Sullivan, music chairwoman for CUAB. “People loved it.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.