Tickets for Jimmy Cliff Show Available Today

Tickets for the first Undergraduate Council-sponsored concert in two years go on sale today, as organizers continue preparations for next week's performance by reggae great Jimmy Cliff.

The 3100 available tickets for the November 12 show at Briggs Cage will be sold at the Holyoke Center Ticket Office starting at 9 a.m. this morning, council leaders said.

Floor tickets for the Cliff concert, which is contractually guaranteed to run at least one hour, will cost $10, and the council is charging $8 for bleacher seats. There will be no chairs on the floor because "people want to dance," said Council Chairperson Kenneth E. Lee '89.

If the concert has not sold out by Friday, council officials will consider opening up sales to other colleges, Lee said.

Council leaders said they are hoping for a quick sell-out, and added that a council-sponsored show by rocker Elvis Costello sold out two years ago on the first day tickets were available.

Conflicts

But this year a home hockey game against Brown, five plays and a joint concert by the Din and Tonics and Radcliffe Pitches all conflict with the Cliff show.

The overlap with other campus events is "unfortunate, but we hope things will work out for everyone anyway," Lee said.

The Dins/Pitches show was moved once this year to avoid coinciding with the CityStep Ball, but there are no plans to change the date again, said Allison R. Armour '89, musical director for the Pitches.

"I was really surprised [to hear about the Cliff date], but I'm not worried because I feel people will have enough taste to know which concert to go to," Armour said.

The group Arrow, which specializes in "sort of a soul and calypso amalgamation," will open for Cliff, said Jill N. Harrison '90, a member of the Student Production Association (SPA), which is helping the council organize the concert.

If organizers sell all the concert tickets, thecouncil stands to make more than $6000 on theCliff show, which will cost about $20,000, Leesaid. This margin should provide a "buffer" if theshow does not sell out, Lee said. Any profit willfund future council social events, he added.

The Cliff concert, arranged by former CouncilChairperson Evan J. Mandery '89 and former socialcommittee chairperson Jonathan S. Leff '90, comesone semester after several shows discussed by thefull council failed to take place. This spring,after an SPA representative had already verballyagreed to a concert date with rock legend ChuckBerry, the council voted not to hold the show,saying it would be too short and too expensive.

A few weeks later, a performance by Otis Dayand the Knights, to have been co-sponsored by thecouncil and a public service group at the BusinessSchool, was cancelled after a dispute over ticketsales between Knight and the B-school promoters.

What's For Dinner?

In addition to financial considerations, showorganizers are preparing for some of Cliff'sspecial requests. The show's rider--a documentwhich spells out terms not specified in theofficial contract--requires concert organizers toprovide Cliff and his crew of 20 to 30 people witha Jamaican meal before he takes the stage,Harrison said.

If Jamaican food is not available, the riderstipulates, Cliff must have either Japanese orEthiopian food, Lee said. The rider also demandsthat no pork be served, and calls for apple juice,"strained or low pulp," Lee said.

"He wanted a bottle of scotch, brandy and oneBailey's Irish Cream," said Lee. "However, thepromoter cut out that part of the contract.