Concert fails to draw FAMU students

When Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino, released his sophomore studio album “Because of the Internet” in December 2013, fans anticipated a tour. The Deep Web Tour kicked off February 28, and on April 4, made its stop in Tallahassee.

In my opinion, Childish Gambino is a well-known rapper. But when I arrived at the concert, I realized the presence of Florida A&M students was almost non-existent. Could the cost have been the issue?

After FSUNews released information of Childish Gambino’s performance on February 11, I immediately informed my close friends about his concert. Sadly, most of my friends were not advocates of the former “Community” actor-turned-rapper, nor did they want to pay a fee for his show.

On the day of the concert, I ran into a FAMU student who was unaware of Gambino’s performance. I was baffled by his ignorance, mainly because he seemed to be someone who was knowledgable with the music scene. Later, I was shocked to see that not many FAMU students even attended the concert.

I was fully aware that the event was funded by Florida State University’s student government, but the concert was open to the public at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.

Students at FAMU might have attended his concert, but tickets were $35 to the public compared to $12 for FSU students with a student ID. If the concert was free, everyone in Tallahassee would have had some knowledge of the event.

The Kendrick Lamar concert, which took place in 2013 around the same time at Florida State’s Langford Green, was at its capacity, admitting students from FSU, TCC, FAMU and non-students.

Compared to Childish Gambino’s concert, Kendrick Lamar’s was not really considered an FSU event. It may have been held on FSU grounds, but the public definitely out-weighed actual FSU enrolled students.

If Florida State found space to be an issue, then putting their students at an advantage solved their problem.

When a concert costs more than students are willing to pay, the word will not get around. On the bright side, the concert was amazing and Childish Gambino put on a great performance.