The Daily O’Collegian

Dave Matthews Band was too expensive.

Dane Cook wasn’t interested.

Brad Paisley just wasn’t going to work out.

John Mayer was also too expensive.

The Foo Fighters never responded.

Neither did Garth Brooks.

And The Flaming Lips, who played July 27 in Tulsa at Diversafest, play in Oklahoma only once a year.

It was as though the 2007 Orange Peel executive team couldn’t catch a break.

Clear Channel, the group’s financial partner, backed out in April after seeing last year’s numbers. Although the 2006 Orange Peel was seen as a success, Clear Channel profited only $500.

Thus, the Student Union was the sole provider for the 2007 Orange Peel.

But finally, in late July, a rough draft of a lineup for the 2007 Orange Peel was made — The All-American Rejects, Guster and The Fray.

The team had hopes The All-American Rejects would accept its offer of $125,000.

While the team was waiting for a reply from the band, The Fray backed out and Guster accepted another offer.

Orange Peel then needed an opening act, so the executive team contacted Pat Green, who would receive $75,000.

Green was ready to get on a plane from New Orleans and come to Stillwater for the event.

The team even had posters designed and had spent $383.23 on about 1,500 “Orange Peel 2007” pens.

However, The All-American Rejects rejected, saying they were in the studio recording. Leaving for Orange Peel would not be profitable, the group said.

After a long summer of sending contracts and trying to book artists for Orange Peel, executive director Josh Neil was faced with a decision.

He could plan an Orange Peel with an artist or band who wouldn’t sell a lot of tickets, like in 2005, or he could postpone Orange Peel.

With Orange Peel less than two months away, Neil broke the news.

“No one’s more upset about it than I am,” Neil said. “But it’s been coming for a while. If Alan Jackson would have said ‘no’ last year, we might have been at this place last year. Eventually, you’re going to have a year where you can’t find talent.”

Neil said people used to come to Orange Peel simply because it was Orange Peel, a pep rally to bring together the OSU community, not for the artists and comedian.

The first Orange Peel in 1996 featured Bill Cosby, Norm McDonald and Dog’s Eye View and sold 17,043 tickets.

The first year didn’t feature the most popular artist but people still came, Neil said.

“But in ’05, we got a very clear message that, ‘Now, you have to bring a quality artist,’” Neil said. “Historically, people would have came cause it was Orange Peel. But in ’05, they said ‘Screw you.’”

In 2005, rumors circulated that The Foo Fighters and Weezer would play at Orange Peel. When the Foo Fighters declined the invitation, Jason Mraz was selected and some students expressed disappointment.

Ticket sales dropped to an all-time low of 5,490, and the Student Union and Clear Channel each lost about $80,000 in one night.

Neil said the team could have signed a lesser known artist and probably sold less tickets but he feared doing so would end Orange Peel forever.

Mitch Kilcrease, Student Union director, said another bad year for Orange Peel wouldn’t have definitely ended the show but it would have been discussed.

“We would have evaluated it,” Kilcrease said. “The goal was for Orange Peel at a minimum was to break even. With Jason Mraz, we lost a lot of money on that show. That takes away from other services.”

Since Orange Peel began in 1996, not only has the music industry changed, but the music scene in Oklahoma has developed more with the creation of The Ford Center in Oklahoma City.

Since its opening in June 2002, the Ford Center has hosted a number of sold-out events, including Britney Spears, Cher, George Strait, Toby Keith, the Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney, Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and Tool, according to the arena’s Web site.

Kent Sampson, Orange Peel adviser, said artists prefer to perform at a place built for concerts rather than outside in a small town.

“No question about it, they’re built for that,” said Sampson, director of Campus Life. “Boone Pickens Stadium, Lewis Field, is not built for that so it cost a lot more to go in there.”

Neil said artists charge more for not only outdoor events but also to universities.

When the artists are selected to play at Orange Peel, not only are students’ musical interests considered but also the Stillwater community and OSU alumni.

Neil said students can’t be the only people coming to a show; in 2005, the crowd was mainly composed of students but the show was considered a financial failure.

“If we’re going to have it in the stadium and we’re going to have it be what we want it to be, we’re going to have to have a band that’s going to sell tickets to non-students as well,” Neil said. “It doesn’t have to be for the community, but it has to be a band that the community feels like, ‘Hey, this is going on in Stillwater tonight. It’s worth our time to go to.’”

The executive team discussed moving the show into Gallagher-Iba Arena but the number of tickets would go from about 21,000 to 10,000, Neil said.

Also, students may feel the event wasn’t Orange Peel, Neil said.

For the next year, the Orange Peel executive team plans to see how people react, Neil said.

The team will listen to comments on whether people care more that there’s not a concert versus a pep rally, Neil said.

“No matter what, if it comes back, students are going to have to show their support,” Neil said. “They’re going to have to get behind it and buy a ticket because it’s Orange Peel, not because it’s their favorite band…If we want to have this tradition, we have to support it.”