Kanye West announced his North American tour dates on Wednesday and according to both Pollstar.com and MTV.com, the tour will come to Alumni Arena on Oct. 21 for Fall Fest.
Student Association officials, for contractual reasons with potential performers, declined to comment. Friday, Oct. 21, however, is all-but-confirmed as the date for Fall Fest.
"The only date we can manage a Fall Fest is Oct. 21," said Bill Regan, director of the Office of Special Events, who said that is the date SA has been working on with Alumni Arena officials.
By stopping at UB for one of the many stops on his "Touch the Sky" tour, West will be joined by rapper Common, "American Idol" champ Fantasia Barrino and up-and-coming R&B singer Keyisha Cole, according to Pollstar.com.
On the heels of last year's Spring Fest, which featured Snoop Dogg and several technical difficulties that left fans disappointed, this will be the second Fest in a row to boast an all-hip-hop and R&B lineup.
Although SA officials could neither confirm nor deny the lineup, students have already begun to hear rumors and weigh in.
"I'll definitely go to that. It sounds like a good show," said Charles Davis, a sophomore exercise science major. "You see the shows before this and you can tell SA makes sure fans get their money's worth."
While many agreed the tentative lineup is a solid one, some said they were disappointed with the acts accompanying West.
"I'm disappointed," said Donna Jurayev, a senior communication and theater major. "It's a good lineup and I'll probably still go, it's just personally disappointing. Like, Kanye's huge but I'd like to see him with other people."
The single-genre format seems to be a successful strategy for getting bigger acts to play the university's fests, but some students may be surprised at the choice to have another hip-hop and R&B lineup so soon after Spring Fest brought Snoop to UB.
Others, like Karent Mogro, said they were pleased to hear the news.
"It's cool that they're switching it up so we don't have to wait till Spring to see these kind of acts," said Mogro, a sophomore health and human services major. "As long as Kanye comes, I'll definitely go to Fall Fest."
Another point of interest is West's recent unscripted criticism of President Bush aired on a live hurricane relief broadcast, and the possibility that West will bring his politics to UB.
That, however, does not seem to reduce the concert's appeal.
"Anybody who likes his music isn't going to be turned off by that," said Mark Maglio, a senior English major.
As usual with SA fests, the concert will be free to UB students, but this year SA will be doing fundraising for Hurricane Katrina relief at the event, and will encourage all attendees to donate money.
The center of attention, of course, remains the performance.
"I'll definitely go. It's somebody I'd actually pay to see, so it's good that they're coming for free," Maglio said. "In terms of something a lot of people would be down to see, this is definitely a good lineup."
Last spring, Snoop Dogg headlined Spring Fest with rapper Cassidy and reggae artist Elephant Man. The original lineup included Jadakiss and The Game, who both dropped out shortly before the concert, despite announcing their participation and signing contracts.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
