The MIT Spring Concert

The MIT Spring Concert Today is the official beginning of Spring Weekend at MIT. The highlights include the always-popular International Fair (I-Fair), the colorful Holi festival, AXO LipSync, and the Fierce Forever drag show. But above all else, for most students, Spring Weekend means the Spring Concert. Every year, MIT brings to campus a national act to headline a big concert on campus. This years Spring Concert features Third Eye Blind and Howie Day. Over the years, many awesome bands have played MITs Spring Concert. Here are some of the highlights from past years. In parentheses are the bands most popular song (according to iTunes) and my favorite song from the band (if different). For some of these bands, choosing a favorite song was really hard; sometimes, it was a near coin toss. 1966: The Beach Boys (Kokomo / Wouldnt It Be Nice) 1968: Jefferson Airplane (White Rabbit / Somebody to Love) 1969: Janis Joplin (Piece of My Heart / Mercedes Benz) 1971/1969: Chuck Berry (Johnny B. Goode) 1974: Aerosmith (Dream On) 1976: Don McLean (American Pie) 1982: The Ramones (I Wanna Be Sedated / Sheena is a Punk Rocker) 1984: Cheap Trick (Surrender / I Want You to Want Me) 1985: R.E.M. (Supernatural Superserious / entire album: Lifes Rich Pageant) 1987: Squeeze (Tempted / Black Coffee in Bed) 1989/1984: ‘til tuesday (Voices Carry) 1990: Psychedelic Furs (Love My Way / Heartbreak Beat) 1991: Jesus Jones (Right Here Right Now) 1992: Violent Femmes (Blister in the Sun) 1993/2000: They Might Be Giants (Istanbul (Not Constantinople) / Birdhouse in Your Soul) 1994: Belly (Feed the Tree) 1995: Sonic Youth (Superstar / Kool Thing) 1996: Soul Coughing (Super Bon Bon / Screenwriters Blues) 1999: Busta Rhymes (Touch It / Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check) 2001: The Roots (The Seed (2.0)) 2002: Sugar Ray (Fly / Every Morning) 2003: OK Go (Here It Goes Again / Get Over It) 2004: Live (Lightning Crashes / Selling the Drama) 2005: Fabolous (Make Me Better / Cant Deny It) 2006: CAKE (The Distance / Short Skirt/Long Jacket) Here is a somewhat complete list of the history of MIT Spring Concerts: 2008: Third Eye Blind / Howie Day 2007: Ying Yang Twins / Ozomatli 2006: CAKE / matt pond PA. 2005: Fabolous / Lloyd Banks 2004: Live/ Slick Rick 2003: Jurassic 5 / OK Go 2002: Sugar Ray / Spin Doctors 2001: The Roots / Blues Traveller 2000: They Might Be Giants / Reel Big Fish 1999: Busta Rhymes 1998: Maceo Parker / Fishbone / Five Fingers of Funk 1997: Battle of the Bands (no headliner) 1996: Soul Coughing 1995: Sonic Youth 1994: Belly 1993: They Might Be Giants 1992: Violent Femmes 1991: Jesus Jones 1990: Psychedelic Furs 1989: ‘til tuesday 1987: Squeeze 1986: Ministry / Face to Face 1985: R.E.M. 1984: Cheap Trick / til tuesday 1983: The Tubes 1982: The Ramones 1977: Aztec Two-Step 1976: Don McLean 1974: Aerosmith 1973: Sha-Na-Na 1971: Chuck Berry 1969: Janis Joplin / Dave van Ronk / Chuck Berry / Julie Driscoll 1968: Jefferson Airplane 1967: The Brothers Four 1966: The Beach Boys 1962: Dakota Staton 1962: The Four Preps Which Spring Concert do you most wish you couldve attended? The MIT Spring Concert Every year, MIT brings to campus a national act to headline a big concert on campus. This years Spring Concert features Jason Derulo and Janelle Monae. Over the years, many awesome bands have played MITs Spring Concert. Here is a somewhat complete list of the history of MIT Spring Concerts: MIT Spring Concerts 2011: Jason Derülo / Janelle Monáe 2010: N.E.R.D. / Super Mash Bros. 2009: Ben Folds / Sara Bareilles 2008: Third Eye Blind / Howie Day 2007: Ying Yang Twins / Ozomatli 2006: CAKE / matt pond PA. 2005: Fabolous / Lloyd Banks 2004: Live / Slick Rick 2003: Jurassic 5 / OK Go 2002: Sugar Ray / Spin Doctors 2001: The Roots / Blues Traveller 2000: They Might Be Giants / Reel Big Fish 1999: Busta Rhymes 1998: Maceo Parker / Fishbone / Five Fingers of Funk 1997: Battle of the Bands (no headliner) 1996: Soul Coughing 1995: Sonic Youth 1994: Belly 1993: They Might Be Giants 1992: Violent Femmes 1991: Jesus Jones 1990: Psychedelic Furs 1989: ‘til tuesday 1987: Squeeze 1986: Ministry / Face to Face 1985: R.E.M. 1984: Cheap Trick / til tuesday 1983: The Tubes 1982: The Ramones 1980: Battle of the Bands (no headliner) 1977: Aztec Two-Step 1976: Don McLean 1975: The James Montgomery Blues Band 1974: Aerosmith 1973: Sha-Na-Na 1971: Chuck Berry 1970: The Grateful Dead 1969: Janis Joplin / Dave van Ronk / Chuck Berry / Julie Driscoll 1968: Jefferson Airplane 1967: The Brothers Four 1966: The Beach Boys 1965: The Rooftop Singers 1964: Maynard Ferguson 1962: Dakota Staton 1962: The Four Preps There are two concerts at MIT (one listed above) that are particularly impressive, each deserving their own section: Nirvana Played MIT. Perhaps MITs most (in)famous party is Steer Roast. Each spring for nearly half a century, the residents of MITs Senior Haus dormitory throw a big party; dorm alumni from decades past return for the event. [Previous blog entries about Steer Roast: Jessie 07 | Keri 10 ] Sometimes described as an extreme barbecue or a 3-day bacchanal, Steer Roast is a celebration of mud, meat, and music. Mud, because of the mud wrestling pit and matches. Meat well, thats obvious from the name of the party, Steer Roast. And music: because (IMHO) Senior Haus residents tend to have the best taste in music on campus, they tend to get the best bands. Perhaps the best example of Senior Haus being ahead of the (music) curve is Steer Roast 1990. That year, for a mere $1,000, they brought an up-and-coming three-member indie band from Seattle to play. Nirvana played Steer Roast in 1990. Heres the contract: One report says that during the show, Krist [Novoselic, the bassist] ripped one or two bones off the wall from a sign spelling out Sport Death (a Senior House motto) and used one to play half of a song on his bass. Apparently, the concert happened in the dorm basement, as rain prevented the band from using the outdoor stage that had been built for the performance. Anybody have audio or pictures of this concert? Would love to hear it / see it The Grateful Dead Played MIT. On May 6th and 7th, 1970, the Grateful Dead played at MIT. Somehow, I had missed this. Luckily, my MIT contemporary, Joel 99, dropped me an email to let me know about this glaring omission. Heres the story, as I have come to understand it: The Grateful Dead were scheduled to play MITs Spring Concert on Thursday, May 6th. Heres the promotional poster: Note the Great Dome in the background. The small text at the bottom reads: LSC Presents The Grateful Dead in concert May 7 1970 MIT Armory 8:00 p.m. $3.00 $3.50 at the door LSC is the Lecture Series Committee, an MIT student group. The MIT Armory is now called duPont Athletic Gymnasium (W31). And yes, that really does say a ticket is just $3! (Even considering inflation, ~$16 is still quite a bargain!) Recall that during the 1969-70 academic year, student unrest about the Vietnam War was at a peak. Just three days before the scheduled MIT Spring Concert, the Kent State massacre occurred. On the same day, according to The Tech, Well over 1500 members of the MIT community, most of them students, voted overwhelmingly to strike in solidarity with the national university strike.' The next day, the faculty met to affirm the communitys desire for a strike. The ~700 professors at the faculty meeting voted (again) overwhelmingly to cancel classes. Wednesday, May 6th was the first day of canceled classes the strike at MIT. With the Grateful Dead already in Boston, they came to MIT a day early to perform a free outdoor concert, joining in the student protest (although, cheekily, the schedule of events listing in that days special issue of The Tech said: 2 pm There will not be a free concert by the Grateful Dead today.). The band set up on the Student Center steps, with the crowd all across Kresge Oval: There is even an audio recording of the concert, from MITs radio station (via archive.org), which was able to patch directly into the bands amps: The Grateful Dead returned to MIT the following night to perform the Spring Concert. Once again, the MIT radio station was able to patch in (and archive.org has the audio): Would you have rather been at the Nirvana show or the Grateful Dead show? Which Spring Concert do you most wish you couldve attended?