One-hit wonders, always keen for a new dollar and the chance to reach out to audiences, take any gigs they’re offered. In the case of this year’s Blowut though, the band didn’t even have to be asked. Alternative pop band and ’90s one-hit wonder Sister Hazel is scheduled to perform today, though it was never originally considered.
“The [original] list consisted of bands such as Grace Potter and Bedouin Soundclash. Grace Potter was our first choice, but they declined our offer,” Alma Mater Productions Music Chair Seira Nakagawa ’10 said.
As AMP prepared to make an offer to Bedouin Soundclash, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and AMP advisor Mark Constantine informed the board members that he was contacted by Sister Hazel’s agent, who said the band would be willing to play the gig. The AMP Music Committee decided to accept the band’s offer.
“We agreed that this was an opportunity we did not want to miss. We are all very excited to have the opportunity to work with Sister Hazel,” Nakagawa said.
The folk-rock-pop band, best known for its 1997 hit “All for You,” reached the eleventh spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. Though the original version of the song featured on its self-titled debut album was acoustic, the radio version that topped the charts uses a full rock accompaniment with percussion, bass and electric. Since “All for You” dominated airwaves, the band has not managed another hit of similar success. It has been successful enough, however to stick together and has released six studio albums since 1994. Its songs have been featured on several movie and television soundtracks including “10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Wedding Planner” and “Scrubs.”
In addition to entertainment provided by Sister Hazel, the Blowout celebration will have free tacos in the afternoon, food and drink for dinner purchasable with meal plan swipes and inflatable activities including a moon bounce. The event will take place in the Sunken Garden. Rain location will be William and Mary Hall.
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As a former member of
As a former member of AMP’s music committee, I have to object to this being outside of the Opinion section. Although it is certainly true that we only became aware of Sister Hazel’s availability at the last minute, the decision to pursue the offer was made with the full consent of the committee.
Occasionally we will be contacted by agents who are looking to fill in spaces on their tour roster that would have otherwise gone empty (or had been cancelled). In these instances, we are typically able to book a band for far below what it would cost us otherwise. Given Williamsburg’s geographic location and small population, we are rarely in a competitive position when it comes to contract negotiations. Booking a specific artist on a specific date is even more difficult — we had to offer Girl Talk quite a few dates before he agreed to play a show here.
Once availability and costs were taken into consideration, few options remained, none of which were nationally-recognizable names. The fact that Sister Hazel were very likely to accept our offer was extremely attractive, and definitely factored into the decision. Numerous times during the past year, AMP made competitive and reasonable offers that were rejected by agencies. I believe that we were particularly successful in this instance, given that we were able to promote a free show on a modest budget that featured a nationally-recognized band. Previous LDoC bands have always been small or local acts — Sister Hazel are easily the biggest band that we’ve brought to campus on LDoC in recent memory, regardless of their status as a ’90s Band’.
I would also debate Sister Hazel’s status as a one-hit-wonder. They’ve had 8 charted singles, one platinum album, and another gold album across a 9 year span. By these standards, they’re actually one of the bigger bands that we’ve brought to campus in my 4 years here.
In any event, the show was very well-attended, and people seemed to enjoy it. I did.