Lack of Planning Delays Benefit

The student-organized benefit concert originally benefit concert originally scheduled for this Sunday has been postponed until the fall because the headline band considered preparations for the event inadequate, a spokesman for the group said yesterday.

The popular rock band Face to Face was to have performed at the Harvard athletic fields along with several Boston acts in a benefit for Phillips Brooks House and the Pine Street Inn, a local homeless shelter.

The concert, called SUN-FEST--an acronym for Students United for the Needy--was planned by the Student Productions Association (SPA), an arm of the Undergraduate Council whose purpose is to organize campuswide social events. The concert was intended to draw students from throughout the Boston area.

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According to the group's manager, Face to Face was worried that SPA had not laid the groundwork necessary for a successful show, so last week, they advised the SPA to postpone the event.

"We're still committed to the project, but it wasn't organized to the point that we thought it would be effective at this time," said C. Robert Hinkel, manager of Face to Face.

"The idea is a good one, but it was severely lacking in the footwork, considering how close the concert was," he said.

The band, which performed at Harvard in an SPA-sponsored appearance last fall, was particularly concerned about publicity, Hinkel said.

"We were told that six or seven collegenewspapers were going to be involved, and itturned out that most of them had ceased publishing[for the school year]. Less than two weeks beforethe event was to take place, the posters weren'teven ready yet," Hinkel said.

SUN-FEST organizer Scott B. Paton '87 initiallysaid yesterday that the SPA had decided on its ownto delay the concert date, but responding toHinkel's comments, he later acknowledged that theSPA pushed back the concert after Face to Faceexpressed concern.

After consulting with the rock group, SPAconcluded that the concert would be moresuccessful in the fall, Paton said. "We decidedthat it would be easier to catch the attention ofstudents geared up for a new year than those whoare paranoid about exams and ready to leave forhome," Paton said.

"There is a lot of time, effort, and moneyinvested in this, and we did not want tojeopardize it by risking running it now," Patonsaid.

Paton said that he will begin plans for thefall concert as soon as exams are over. "SPA willhave an entire summer to build it into a biggerand better event," he said.

And Face to Face will definitely participate,Hinkel said. "We are committed to SUN-FEST andwant to make sure it is done right."

According to Paton, the other bands have alsosaid that they plan to participate in the fallconcert. The local bands expected to perform areRick Berlin-The Movie, O-Positive, Three Colors,The Blackjacks, and Skin.

The original sponsors of the event have agreedto extend their support in the fall, Paton said.The project has secured $5000 of financial backingfrom Miller Beer, $4000 from the UndergraduateCouncil, and approximately $2000 from AppleComputer, a new sponsor.

A Spring of Frustration

This week's postponement follows the breakdownlast semester of an SPA plan to bring the TalkingHeads to Harvard Stadium. The SPA had hoped theHeads concert would be the highlight of anentertainment-filled Spring Weekend.

College officials denied the SPA permission tohold the event in Harvard Stadium, and as aresult, "the whole spring weekend was scrapped,"Paton said in an interview last month