The long-delayed Welcome Week Concert reached a costly end April 1, according to reports from Associated Students of the University of Nevada officials at a senate meeting on April 2.
The concert, which would’ve been headlined by rapper NLE Choppa, was suddenly canceled a day before on March 31. The artist wasn’t able to perform due to an injury, ASUN’s Instagram post announcing the cancellation read.
According to Sandra Rodriguez, UNR’s director of student government, ASUN was able to get a full refund from almost all of the vendors it had contracted with to put on the concert, including for things like security services.
But $44,369.98 will still go down the tubes, as that’s what ASUN spent on a production company for the concert, JMF Presents. The company had already set up equipment for the event ahead of its last-minute cancellation, Rodriguez explained. Rodriguez added that NLE Choppa’s team won’t be reimbursing ASUN for production expenses, as he canceled every concert in which he was scheduled to perform during April.
According to clarification Rodriguez sent via email, the full contract was set for $46,469.98, but ASUN won’t have to pay the extra $2,100 in labor costs for the night of the event.
The Welcome Week Concert, traditionally held at the start of the school year, hit planning snags over the summer and couldn’t be hosted at its expected date, explained Dawson Deal, ASUN’s president, at a senate meeting on Sept. 18.
ASUN’s Department of Programming went forward with planning the concert for later in the year, eventually landing on April 1. The date for the concert, which would have been held at the Reno Livestock Events Center, was announced via ASUN’s Instagram on March 14; NLE Choppa was announced as its headliner six days later on March 20.
When the Department of Programming first got word from NLE Choppa’s management on March 31 that he was unable to perform, they discussed going forward with just the supporting acts, local musicians Adam Vaughn and AFTRPRTY, or postponing the concert for a later date, Deal explained.
Rodriguez initially advised the department to postpone, but ultimately advised it to cancel the concert altogether after they learned NLE Choppa had canceled all appearances for the rest of the month.
Had they postponed, Rodriguez explained, they would’ve had to pay out all of the contracts involved with putting on the event and then hope a concert could eventually materialize.
“We have put a lot of hard work, sweat and tears into this project and I hope all of you are able to see that,” Railyn Krentz, ASUN’s director of programming, said in a public comment April 2.
Students can get refunds for tickets they’ve already purchased at the Nevada Wolf Shop, ASUN announced in its cancellation post.
Peregrine Hart can be reached via email at peregrineh@unr.edu or on Instagram @pintofperegrine.
