CUAB, Cat’s Cradle partnership yields sold-out house

Tickets for the upcoming Jeff Mangum concert in Memorial Hall were gone within hours.

On Jan. 30, the former frontman for indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel will play a solo show after a 10-year break from the stage.

The show is co-sponsored by the Carolina Union Activities Board and Carrboro music venue Cat’s Cradle.

Evan Allan, music chairman for CUAB, said that Cat’s Cradle played the primary role in getting Mangum to come to campus.

About 377 student tickets for the show were sold through CUAB, and 971 tickets were sold to the general public through Cat’s Cradle, said Frank Heath, co-owner of Cat’s Cradle.

Students tickets were sold for $12 and general public tickets were sold for $31.

CUAB subsidized student tickets by paying the $19 difference between the student ticket price and the general public ticket price, said Zoey LeTendre, program adviser for CUAB.

CUAB is funded by one-third of all student organizations fees, which total about $13 per student per year.

LeTendre said this isn’t the first time that CUAB and Cat’s Cradle have partnered to bring an artist to a venue larger than Cat’s Cradle.

Heath said the two have previously collaborated to bring indie rock band Wilco and alternative musician Sufjan Stevens to Memorial Hall in March and September of 2006, respectively.

LeTendre said the support of Cat’s Cradle allows for bigger contract performances.

“For us, that means presenting something that we might not have been able to bring on our own,” she said.

Mangum’s performance wasn’t initially planned to be part of CUAB’s schedule this year, said Cierra Hinton, president of CUAB.

Allan said he had noticed Mangum’s absence from the recent music scene.

“He kind of disappeared from the spotlights after two albums with Neutral Milk Hotel,” he said.

Because Mangum had not performed in such a long time, he was in high demand, Heath said.

“It’s been one of the most highly welcomed among the concerts that we’ve presented recently,” he said.

Cat’s Cradle contacted CUAB after booking the performance to draw a bigger audience to a larger venue. Cat’s Cradle — which was renovated this summer — has a capacity of about 750. Memorial Hall can seat 1,434, almost twice as many.

“It was a great opportunity,” Hinton said.

The contract was drawn through Cat’s Cradle and was not available.

Allan also said that the news of Mangum’s visit to Chapel Hill was a surprise for many of his fans.

“A lot of people share my excitement for his music,” he said.

“They didn’t think they’d ever get to see him live.”

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