So if you don’t know that hip-hop artist Drake is coming to Bing U on October 1st, you obviously haven’t been Facebook stalking me.  Which is frankly unacceptable.  Start right away.

Drake is famous for a bunch of reasons. He can sing, he can act, and he was a regular on Canadian teen drama ‘Degrassi:  The Next Generation’.  But perhaps the coolest piece of trivia I’ve discovered about Drake is that he’s become so famous as a singer/rapper that his real-world persona is actually referred to by name by CHARACTERS in the 2010 Degrassi TV movie.  Characters who knew the guy that Drake PLAYED on the show.  As in, “ ‘Hey, let’s go see Drake in concert.’  ‘Wait, you mean the hip-hop artist slash actor who pretended to be our wheelchair confined high school friend for all those years?’ ‘Yeah, him!’ “

Trippy.

Anyway, if you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years.  Or if you’re one of those people who “only listens to Morning Edition”—yeah, I know who you are—here’s a YouTube of one of Drake’s big singles…

Even though the news of his impending concert was leaked to some OTHER news outlet first—ahem, I don’t hold a grudge—I asked BU’s “Lord of the Concert” Aaron Cohn for a brief interview about how one gets a mega-gigundo-hyper-famous superstar rapper to come to lil ole Bing.

PS: If you need any proof of how fabulously famous Drake is, a recent free South Street Seaport show to promote his new album had to be canceled when it attracted 25,000 fans instead of the expected 10,000.  Of course, Drake was supposed to perform in conjunction with Hanson.  So you take your pick as to who the real draw was…  I mean, that Kevin Jonas is dreamy.

What’s that, you say?  Kevin’s not in Hanson?  Then who the hell are the Hansons?

Oh crap.  That ‘Mmmbop’ song.  25,000 people?  Just think how many more would’ve shown if they had canned Hanson in advance.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: BingPop has received assurances that Hanson will NOT be appearing with Drake at BU.)

I always wonder what the politics of choosing an act for a college show are like.  Is there a vote? Is there a smoke-filled back room?  Do you flip a coin?
Haha.  There are certainly politics involved, and the smoke-filled back room with just a few people used to be the place these types of decisions really were made. It was hit and miss.  In the last year, however, we’ve started leveraging technology and making the process more data-driven, with online surveys distributed to the entire student body.  In short, we figure out what the ticket price of various shows would be, and we ask students to rank each of our choices from 1-5.  Needless to say, Drake finished pretty darn high.

Beyond that, things like artist fee/value, tour routing (if they’re coming through NYC, the northeast, etc., we can usually get a much better deal and the artist is more likely to accept a college date), and little things like artist buzz play a factor.  I also put a lot of weight on the gut instincts of my concerts chair and entire programming board…often times they’re the deciding factor when we’ve got tough choices to make.

Of course, the other half of the coin is the greater Binghamton community.  We really haven’t figured out a great way to gauge what they would like to see.  So on that front, we kind of need to go with what the students want (since that’s what we can obtain data on), and hope the community gets excited as well. 

What are the dirty details re when tickets go on sale to public vs students; and prices?
You got your story right- tickets are on sale online 10am Thursday, September 2nd.  There will be a nice big link on sa.binghamton.edu.  They’re all general admission.  We managed to keep the prices really fair for this one- $36 each (plus a $2 facility fee and $2 convenience charge).  That said, this show is 2 days after two sold out dates at Radio City Music Hall, where the cheapest ticket to be had was $56 and the good seats were $106.  And since the Events Center isn’t that big, everywhere in the building is going to be a good view.
Since BU undergrads pay an activity fee for events like these, their tickets are slightly cheaper- $28, and also available atsa.binghamton.edu.

Backstage riders are legendary.  Any stories you can share about past acts and what kind of fun stuff you had to get for ‘em?  You don’t necessarily have to tell us the NAMES…
We haven’t had anything too legendary in recent years…of course, artists ALWAYS ask for alcohol (often fancy types), which we cannot buy with state dollars.  We’ve also been asked for raw kombucha, goji berries, "non-domestic" chocolate, baby wipes, and deodorant to name a few.  Whatever it takes to keep the artist happy…we pride ourselves on being the most professional programming boards around.

Drake is a pretty big get?  How hard is it to negotiate getting the show to Binghamton?
Again, there’s always a variety of factors, and a lot of times it comes down to routing.  We are fortunate being just three hours from New York City, and that’s how we’ve swung some of our biggest acts in recent years like Green Day and the Foo Fighters.  In terms of the negotiation, it is also tough because we fight hard to keep our ticket prices as low as possible on all of our shows, both for students and the community.  Fortunately, at the end of the day the artist has the same goal as we do; pack the house.  So in terms of negotiation, we usually hit a happy medium in terms of costs. 
 
Funny thing about Binghamton: sometimes people go to a show not because it’s their favorite artist, but just cause it’s a BIG show that’s coming to town and we don’t get that many.  How do you describe Drake too, say, um, your Mom who might want to go see a concert in town?
Drake isn’t your typical rapper in a lot of ways.  Yes, his songs are catchy, and his album "Thank Me Later" was one of the biggest of the summer.  If you haven’t heard of him, take a listen on iTunes- there’s a reason he is so popular amongst young people right now.

But to my mom…honestly I would describe him as a "nice Jewish boy" because he is in fact Jewish (and had a Bar Mitzvah)! He is also Canadian, and started out as an actor playing the character Jimmy, a boy in a wheelchair, on the popular show "Degrassi." To any mom’s who are GLEE fans, I heard someone joke the other day that they planned to show up to the concert in a wheelchair with a "Team Artie" shirt on…thought it was pretty clever.

But in short, it’s guaranteed to be a fun show.  If you’re not familiar with Drake, but just want to head to an energy-filled concert, this may be one to check out.

There is, it seems, no greater power in the universe, than that of the desire to have a cocktail named after oneself.

At least, that was my takeaway from Sunday night’s Rock Star Celebrity Bartending Bash @ Tranquil Bar/Bistro.  The night was so phenomenally entertaining that I think it was worthy of a recap.  In the interest of full disclosure, I will disclose that not all will be disclosed; this is to protect the self-respect and professional reputation of all involved.  Suffice to say, it was a wild night—and what happens at the STAP’s Rock Star Celebrity Bartending Bash, apparently, STAYS at STAP’s Rock Star Celebrity Bartending Bash.  Except this little bit…

The evening started with Round 1: Candice Chapman (WBNG) v. Greg Catlin (WBNG) v. John Brunelli (The Brunelli Gallery).  Competition was fierce; and the Brunelli crew ponied up big tips, seriously wanting a Tranquil drink to be named after the gallery manager/artist/DJ.  But the BNG crew had fans of their own; owners of the UPS Store (Vestal) store showed up in force, and as the tips for Brunelli grew, the ante was upped in a pretty staggering way: The UPS Store announced that they’d match all bartender donations up to a thousand bucks.  The crowd cheered wildly; more wildly, I imagine, because the bartenders seemed incapable of using a reasonable amount of booze in the drinks.  More people arrived, and the celebs had a tough time keeping up; I chuckled to myself as I watched one of the real bartenders train Greg Catlin to sanitize dishes; this was not a cushy charity gig.

Round 1 ended at 6 sharp and the drag performances began as the tips were counted.  The results came back with Greg in the lead, Brunelli in second, and Candace in third—but not for long.  Round 2 began quickly began, with (the ever so talented) Joshua B—oh wait, that’s me, Lori (Star 105.7), and Mayor Matt Ryan.  Brunelli stayed on to help out.  Sure, it made him SEEM like a nice guy, but I had my suspicions about his motivation (*cough* extra tips).  And even as Round 2 began, jockeying for a “revision” of Round 1 results also began; people started slipping me more money and insisting that John Brunelli’s total be raised.

Meantime, the situation behind the bar became chaotic.  Mayor Ryan, who had casually mentioned to me at some point that he had professional bartending experience, began to ask Lori (Star 105.7) how to make the cocktails.  A genuine dearth of knowledge or a clever ruse to slow Lori down?   Which is not to say that Lori was on the straight and narrow—cutting in front of me at the register to get her change faster.  My own conduct, as you might expect, was near angelic.  If you consider assuming that any unclaimed tip left on the bar was MEANT for my tip cup “angelic”.  As the competition mounted, the celeb bartenders ran out of glasses and the Tranquil crew (Chris, Sam, John) desperately began washing more.  Michael Libous (salon owner) from Round 3 joined the fray early to make sure that everybody got served.

Round 2 flashed by, with the bar packed to capacity, and then, suddenly as it began, it was over.  “In at first place, Mayor Matt Ryan”; the crowd cheered.  2nd and 3rd were Joshua B and Lori, respectively.  Even more to the point, Mayor Ryan was leading John Brunelli; and the Brunelli crew was having none if it.  The wallets came out and the totals fluctuated again.  For a moment, I was in the lead; then Brunelli; then the mayor again.

But that was before we even GOT to Round 3: Michael Libous v. Sofia Ojeda (NewsChannel 34) v. Tony Fiala v. Matt Unhjem (Q Magazine).  Competition was fierce, and Libous already had a head start; but so did Tony—the consummate fundraiser—who showed up with a number of small donations he’d been given in advance.

Then came the major coup: Kristen, a friend of STAP Development Director Mary Kaminsky made an offer: if Mary would mix a single Cosmo, Kristen would write a check for a thousand dollars.  All action froze as Mary made her thousand-dollar cosmo… with a little help.  “Better be a damn good cosmo,” somebody commented.  Apparently, it was.  A thousand dollars was added to the board in Mary’s name.

That’s when it all got a little wacky; one celeb offered to dance on the bar in order to make up the difference; no takers.  All this, while the Round 3 tenders worked furiously to exceed Mary’s record-breaking total.  As the hour wrapped up with a performance from Katrina, Trina, and Nomi, the results were tallied.  And they were?  Michael Libous in first, Tony in second, Sofia in third, and Matt Unhjem in fourth.  But none even came close to Mary’s number.

After a song or two more, it was time to announce the final results.  Mary (obviously) was well in the lead at $1000.  Mayor Ryan was in second and John Brunelli was third.  It seemed absolutely certain that there was no beating Mary to the much-lauded drink-naming rights.  But that’s when the powers that be decided that TWO drinks would be named in honor of the celebs at Tranquil—a major sacrifice, considering the meager amount of space left on their semi-permanent chalkboard.

With new incentive, jockeying began again.  I won’t get into the dirty details here—I’ll just say that you should have been there if you wanted to know exactly how far people are willing to go in pursuit of a good cause (and a cocktail title).  But the end result was that the Brunelli’s crew came up with 200 more, catapulting him into second and earning him a place on the Tranquil chalkboard.

The grand total raised (including tip-matching from UPS Vestal):
4,776.03