Busta Rhymes Secured For Springfest

Multi-platinum rapper Busta Rhymes will perform at Harvard next Friday evening, members of the Undergraduate Council and the Harvard Concert Commission (HCC) announced yesterday.

Jack P. McCambridge ’06, chair of the council’s Campus Life Committee and Justin H. Haan ’05, director of the Harvard Concert Commission, confirmed that the contract has been completely finalized and given the green light by both parties.

The concert is slated to begin at 9 p.m. in the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC) Quad on Friday, April 23. Lavietes Pavilion will be the alternate location in case of inclement weather, and Haan said students should check the council’s website at noon on the day of the event to find out the final location.

Haan noted that while he is hoping for the best-case scenario, the group is equally prepared for either case.

“It’s almost like we’re planning for two events,” said Haan, who is also a Crimson editor.

McCambridge said capacity in Lavietes is only 2,699, and people would be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. The MAC Quad, on the other hand, would be able to accommodate everyone. Haan said that should the concert be forced indoors, there is at least one benefit to having the event at Lavietes over the Gordon Track and Field Center, where Guster performed this fall, and which is unavailable due to the spring track season.

“We’re trying to establish as many venues for concerts on campus as possible,” Haan said. “And, Lavietes has a much larger capacity than Gordon.”

Regardless of where the event will be held, only Harvard undergraduate ID holders will be admitted to the performance. The event falls during prefrosh weekend, but Haan noted that the details of prefosh admission have not been finalized.

Shuttles will also run from the Quad to wherever the event is held. McCambridge said the event’s planners are working to arrange shuttles that would transport students from Yard and River locations to Lavietes in the event of rain.

McCambridge said Busta Rhymes will perform for at least 60 minutes, though it could go longer depending on student reaction. The Grammy-nominated artist released his latest Top 10 single, “I Know What You Want,” last year.

“From what we’ve been told, if people get into the show he’ll just keep going,” McCambridge said.

Haan also said that the student band Tha League will open for Busta Rhymes, and that plans are “still in the works” for a freestyle competition to be held before Tha League’s performance.

“It could be either spoken word or freestyle battling,” Haan said. “We’re not entirely sure but we’re working on it now.”

Haan and McCambridge both praised the administration as well as the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), Facilities Maintenance Operations and the Harvard Athletics Department for their “invaluable help” in planning for the event.

“The administration has been huge—especially Dean Kidd,” Haan said. “HUPD has gone through every different detail.”

At least 16 HUPD officers, nine Cambridge Police Department officers and 15 private security officers will provide security for the concert and ensure that students enter through the designated entrances—between Lowell House and the MAC, as well as between Lowell and Winthrop Houses. Haan said no students will be allowed in from the western side of the MAC quad.

—Staff writer Jeffrey C. Aguero can be reached at aguero@fas.harvard.edu.