Students might have to take a trip down the River of Dreams to see pop star Billy Joel's Nov. 13 concert at Tufts. The 470 student tickets for the show will be sold online on a first-come-first-served basis, the Concert Board and the Office of Student Activities announced at a joint press conference yesterday. The show, dubbed "Billy Joel - An Evening of Questions, Answers, and a Little Music," will be held at 8 p.m. at Cohen Auditorium.
On Monday, Oct. 29, at 10 p.m., students can log on to TuftsLife.com and click on a special ticket sale link. The tickets cost $35 for students and $45 for faculty, and there is a two-ticket limit per person.
Yesterday, Tufts had no concrete plans for the distribution of unclaimed tickets. Possibilities mentioned at the press conference included holding a TuftsLife.com auction, or a raffle for charity. But Cabellon and Concert Board co-chairs Christian Trentacosta and Aaron Wright say the online method is the most efficient way to fairly distribute tickets.
"It's hard to create a fair and equitable process," Cabellon said. "Instead of having people wait in line, camping out, missing classes... it's not perfect, and we don't claim it's perfect," he said.
The ticket breakdown for Joel's appearance is as follows: 470 student tickets, 50 faculty/staff tickets, ten Concert Board reserve tickets, 30 special invitees, and 60 tickets for Joel, Sony Music, and his agency.
Joel's appearance will cost the University $35,000, which will be paid for with ticket revenue and the $15,000 previously allotted for the annual Fall Rap Show, which Concert Board chose to cancel in favor of Joel. According to Wright, however, the biggest factor was timing - had the date coincided with the Rock Show or the Jazz Show, either would have been bumped.
Tufts was one of six schools in the nation chosen to host Joel, and the only school in New England. Princeton University, New York University, Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and Georgetown University will round out his college tour. "It's a pretty elite group, and I'm excited to say we're a part of it," Cabellon said.
In these last few weeks, the Boston field had been narrowed to Tufts and Brandeis University. The deciding factor was reportedly Tufts' scheduling flexibility for the show. Cabellon also sent Joel's agency photos of Cohen Auditorium, which he reportedly was "very excited about."
The purpose of the tour is to give Joel small venues for intimate shows during which students will be able to ask questions. The Piano Man will play for approximately 1.5- 2 hours. "For once at Tufts, our small venue has helped us," Cabellon said.
Concert Board has not made final plans for specific seating procedures for the show. Plans on whether the seats will be ticked, or general admission will be finalized by the sale date.
According to Cabellon, security for the show will be extremely tight, and will include both plain-clothed and uniformed TUPD members, as well as Joel's personal security.
Concerns regarding the strength of TuftsLife.com's server were repeatedly raised - this ticket sale will bring the site an exposure it has never dealt with before. The website's executive directors, Mike Masterman and Eric Satler, assured students that the procedure would rum smoothly and fairly, and said the site will be moved to a higher-end server within the next week or so.
Tufts will use an official list to ensure that all Tufts IDs presented are valid. Students without an official Tufts ID will not be admitted the night of the show. The pick up time and location for tickets will be delivered via e-mail to students who have received tickets, and they will have one week to pick them up.
