On Thursday, Sept. 19, the University Activities Board will host its PackHOWL fall concert in Reynolds Coliseum, with T-Pain as the headliner. Doors to the concert open at 6 p.m., DJ Trellz opens the show at 7 p.m., and T-Pain begins his set at 8 p.m. UAB hopes to make up for the fact that there was not a fall concert in 2018 by putting more energy and planning into this year’s event.
UAB President Zach Hover, a fourth-year studying communication, said the executive board hopes to reconcile the missing 2018 fall concert with this year being better than ever.
“I’m the only person who was on the board when we had the last homecoming concert with 2 Chainz,” Hover said. “In terms of the planning that goes into the event, we have a lot more going into it. We’re really trying to make it up to the student body that the homecoming/fall concert last year didn’t happen. We’re really trying to make this a really great experience for students, so we have a lot more planning and a lot more energy and a lot more excitement going into it.”
UAB Vice President of Communication Josie Thompson, a third-year studying elementary education, said the board hopes this concert will help with their rebranding process.
“We’ve rebranded UAB a little bit so far this semester, and I think that’s helped a lot, but just making sure the information regarding the concert is easy and accessible,” Thompson said. “We’re answering all questions straight up front. There’s places that students can go for more information.”
Thompson said social media has been a key component in advertising the concert this year.
“We’ve been trying to work it with social media a lot and getting a lot of involvement with our audience on social media, with giveaways and prize packs and stuff like that,” Thompson said. “We’ve also had people tabling in different locations, trying to boost ticket sales and get people excited and aware.”
Hover said the board started working on this event as far back as April.
“We started planning in April before Wolfstock even happened,” Hover said. “Right when the new leadership team had been hired for this current year, we started planning.”
Hover said this was necessary due to the wait times that come with receiving contracts.
“There’s basically a long wait period for the contract portion of things, and that’s when our adviser goes back and forth with the middle agent and getting the contract figured out,” Thompson said. “We have to discuss what the artist can and can’t do on campus, and what the artist demands and what we can and can’t do based on their demands. Then after a while, they sign a contract saying they will come to NC State and perform. Then the contract has to go to higher-ups and NC State and they have to sign it, and that normally takes 2-3 weeks since the artist has finalized their side of the contract.”
According to Thompson and Hover, floor seating for the event is sold out, which totals about 1,500 tickets. Hover said over 2,000 tickets had been sold for the event as of Saturday, Sept. 14.
Hover said he believes T-Pain was a good choice for the student body and for UAB.
“I think T-Pain appeals to what we typically do for a typical homecoming concert or just a concert in the fall semester,” Hover said. “I think that for what UAB is trying to do this year specifically, it was a good choice to go with T-Pain.”
Tickets for the event can be purchased from the NC State ticketing site.
