bandzip

Say what?

I saw it earlier. Wasn't Can't State in trouble a few years ago for attendance being below the minimum threshold? Why didn't they just "purchase" tickets for alumni?

I'm aware. I just have a hard time believing there are 10k people with enough money to burn that they buy tickets and don't show up.

The stadium was in no way near half full so I would call BS on the announced attendance.

This Saturday is high school band day. Tag about a thousand on any predictions.

Hearing a lot of good things out of camp this year. New uniforms are long overdue, the old ones were pretty well shot when I marched six years ago. Should be a good season!

It was stated in at least one article that more than $400,000 came from the general fund.

That's what I was getting at. Most of the people you hear on the radio are too popular (expensive) to play at EJ, and it makes no sense to play the JAR with the better surrounding venues.

I'm not sure what you are looking for here. People have already listed dozens. Almost all of the Broadway Shows, some Tuesday musical shows, speaking events like Colin Powell and Tyson among others, Pentatonix, Chevelle with Finger Eleven, Blue Man Group, "Rain" the Beatles Tribute, Mannheim Steamroller, Trans-siberian orchestra, Jackson Browne, every Tuba Christmas performance, The Cleveland Orchestra, Gospel Meets Symphony with the Akron Symphony, and the list goes on, all within the last few years. If those acts are selling out then anyone you hear on the radio is playing somewhere with a larger capacity. Not sure what the JAR has to do with anything. Today any act worth seeing would book EJ or the Wolstein Center instead. The JAR seats 5,500. By the time you put the stage on the floor, take out the upper bleachers behind the stage and the seating immediately beside the stage (unless they have people sitting behind and above the band) you have significantly lowered the seating capacity. Throw in the awful acoustics and uncomfortable seating and there is no reason for any act to play there today. What are some examples of things they should be booking?

I was there from 2007-12. They happen pretty often. If you had "never been within a quarter mile of that building" then obviously you wouldn't know. Just because you never checked it out doesn't mean there aren't students that appreciate the performing arts and regularly fill it up. There were also a lot of gimmicky events like Boo at the Roo and those lunch time concert series that were awful and poorly attended. Most of those were sponsored jointly with the RHPB and RHC. Do you want to compare average student attendance at EJ to a baseball game? I don't think I ever saw a game on campus with more than 50 total people in attendance. When was the last time besides a Can't basketball game or the Info Opener that students couldn't get tickets to a Zips sporting event?

*edit Re read it. My bad. If it sounds anything like when the announcer is speaking it would be inaudible. Also, EJ has seatbacks, and they are padded.

I know this is primarily a sports forum but there are some very out of touch posts here. I attended a number of world class performances at EJ during my time in school. Off the top of my head The Cleveland Orchestra, Mannheim Steamroller, Wynton Marsalis (one of the worlds best trumpet players), Yo-Yo Ma, Al Vizzutti, Trans-Siberian Orchestra. A lot of great Broadway shows including Mama Mia, Stomp, Blast, and Spamalot. I had a buddy drag me to see Chevelle with Finger Eleven and it was sold out for that concert as well. Just because they aren't all acts you hear on mainstream radio doesn't mean they aren't filled to capacity regularly. Any artist big enough that you are hearing them on the radio all day is playing one of the larger venues in the Northeast Ohio area. On top of what everyone else listed another big event was when Gen. Colin Powell came for a sold out speaking engagement, sponsored by EJ Thomas Hall. This is absolutely a huge blow for the music department. What happens to Tuba Christmas, Band-o-rama, collage, special orchestra and symphonic band concerts etc. if there is no one on staff to run the lights/sound, maintain the building, sell tickets, etc? They can say the shows will go on but I don't see how it's possible. It's the equivalent of firing the entire staff at the Info or the JAR and then saying games will go on as scheduled without issues. I'm not here to bash on the sports teams. There were five of us that pulled money for gas, piled into a car and took road trips to Buffalo, Bowling Green, OSU and Can't for games. Went to every home game for basketball, and football even after I was finished with marching band and was in the band for the NCAA tournament appearances. There are absolutely more students that attended events at EJ every year than any of the individual sporting events. There are significantly more people from the community, including the infamous "Joe Akron" that everyone is trying to reach, that come through the doors of EJ every year than all of the sporting events combined. Talk about short sighted. The events hosted at EJ Thomas garner far more community support than the sports teams will in the foreseeable future.

You got your wish. Aaron Jackson looked lost in the limited time he saw the floor and Pat was sidelined after aggravating that injury you insist doesn't exist. Maybe you should trust that Dambrot knows a little more than you think he does.

Can't complain about the effort tonight. Good season Zips!

I'm not a big fan of chucking up threes on every possession, but when you're drilling them it sure is fun to watch. 4 in a row.