When I first heard that Orange Peel picked Sugarland, I was upset.
Another freakin’ country act. That’s worse than nothing, like last year. I thought nothing was more disappointing than hiring no act at all, but this year’s “talent” takes the cake.
The Orange Peel committee maintains they are saving Orange Peel from doom. The committee needs to resurrect the Orange Peel of old and stop blaming the lack of sales on the acts and students.
The first peel featured Bill Cosby and a hardly known band, yet sold more than 17,000 tickets.
Three years ago, crossover artist Jason Mraz only sold 5,490 tickets. The blame either falls on management or Mraz, and I think it is all management.
Since coming to OSU, I have been blessed with Alan Jackson, nothing and now Sugarland.
Why couldn’t I have been in school in the years of Incubus, Barenaked Ladies, Better than Ezra, Third Eye Blind, Blues Traveler and Collective Soul?
Maybe that is just my infatuation with the 90s and no one else likes those bands.
I know we all like different music and no matter who is picked, someone is going to be mad.
Try this statement: I hate country music and will never sympathize with its listeners or its advocators.
The cowboy culture is something I do not embrace. I am, at times, ashamed to tell others I’m from Oklahoma because of that generalization that we are all cowboys.
Contrary to popular belief, the average college student does not listen to Garth Brooks or ride a horse to class.
“But that’s not what Sugarland is about. They are more than a country band. They appeal to everyone.” Right…
Because I’ve been typecast, I’m going to make sweeping statement about all country music. Every country song is the worst song I’ve heard.
They all sound the same, and they all suck. The toothless fiddle player and the cowboy hat wearin’, horse ridin’, tobacco spittin’, wrangler stranglin’, bar and grill ownin’, Sooner fan singer arrange awful music.
Honestly, who’s even heard of Sugarland, beside the aforementioned stereotypical country listener?
The committee should have tried harder. I’m ashamed about this lineup. They can call it a success for selling 7,500 tickets if they want.
I would rather bury Orange Peel forever than have it continue under this disappointing guise.
OP is going downhill and there is nothing Sugarland can do to save it. To say anything else is criminal.
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I have to say I am disappointed as well. Though it’s hard to complain about something done for and by the students (in a slightly distanced way albeit), I must say that it appears as though this year’s pro-lineup will be sub-par to last year’s indie/local Orange Slice event. I too am sad that acts such as Incubus are now deferred to the mass-market creation of country music. Perhaps as a musician myself I am too far biased against country music to make a fair review (or preview as it stands now :P), in that many of us are more interested in music that pushes and intrigues us rather than the more “simple” country music structures. Though it is probably fair to say this is meant to cover the broad range of musical interests by picking pop acts that are as far from fringe and innovative as possible, and is all too expected from such a public concert, in the spirit of subjective criticism: they could do better. :)
In the irony Department - Travis McNabb of Better Than Ezra has been playing drums on tour with Sugarland for some time now :)
why does every single thing that goes on in stillwater have to involve country music?? college fest, calf fry, orange peel. i almost feel like you cannot live here without being a country fan if you want to get out. its ridiculous.
What I dont get is if they are going to choose a country band at least choose a red dirt band I mean come on Stillwater is the home of the freaking genre. Get Cross Canadian, No Justice, Jason Boland. All of those would easily sell out. Yet those bands are never even considered. There is a reason college fest has become a 3 day event and dont forget calffry. I just cant understand why every year the committee overlooks that genre and always goes for pop country when most country fans in stillwater even dislike pop country.
p.s. why cant we comment on the Third place article. All day long ive been thinking of the memories I made over the years there and its just silly to disable the comments on a place that was so popular.
@sara calf fry and college fest was built for country fans. Tumbleweed has always been mainly a country bar and so of course thats what they are going to host for their big concerts. i can honestly understand the gripe about orange peel though especially since I was at OSU when they had Goo Goo Dolls, Incubus, Collective Soul. Those were good years and I really enjoyed going to them. but as i said above I do wish they would use red dirt which is not the country you hear on the radio.
I totally agree with T.T. on being sick and tired of lame country acts. I am a country fan, but come on, Sugarland? Really???? Get a real country legend like Hank Williams Jr. or Charlie Daniels, if price is an issue then go with the flow and get red dirt. Or break the flow and put Orange Peel on the map to where college kids from around the country are jealous, get Disturbed, Linkin Park, Buckcherry, Seether, i mean come even try for Snoop or 50 Cent.
If costs and ticket sales are really that big of an issue than tack it on to our tuition. Do you know why I go to the Colvin Center, wreslting matches, baseball games, and women’s basketball games? Because they’re “FREE”. No they aren’t “free” but I already pay for them so I might as well take advantage of that. So add it in on our tuition and get as much money as you need to have one heck of a concert, every year.
Just so I have this straight - you enrolled in a university that began as an agriculture college, is one of the top veterinary and ag programs in the nation, has living quarters called Farmhouse, adopted a guy with six-shooters and a cowboy hat as its mascot, calls its sports teams Cowboys and has a horse run out onto the field after a touchdown and you just aren’t grasping this whole country theme? Didja Google your chosen college before you enrolled, son?
I’m also very disappointed with the acts chosen for this year’s Orange Peel show. I absolutely LOATHE country music, so for me, this year’s ticket would be one ridiculously expensive Motion City Soundtrack ticket. I have a couple suggestions for other kinds of shows, though I’m not sure how well some of them would sell:
A pop/rock/punk show with bands like Anberlin, Mayday Parade, My Chemical Romance, Last Winter, Asteria, or Self Made Soul,
A rock/screamo-ish semi-experimental show with the likes of Sky Eats Airplane, Handshakes and High-fives, and A Day To Remember,
A completely experimental show with bands like Kill Paradise, Breathe Carolina, Carolina Liar, and O.A.R.,
A more laid back show with bands like People in Planes and other Starbucks-esque talent,
Or how about a mix of all of the above, with a lineup of Anberlin, Self-Made Soul, Sky Eats Airplane, People In Planes, Carolina Liar, and Last Winter? I’m betting that they could book all these bands for less than the price Sugarland took…these bands are still trying to get their name out, after all.
Well put, JB!!!
Yeah! JB is totally right: If you don’t agree with the majority, your opinion doesn’t count and you should leave.
On a related note, I vote that we change the national anthem from “The Star-Spangled Banner” to the immortal classic “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.”
I think you’re being dumb about this. Have you ever heard anything from Sugarland? Maybe if you gave them a shot, you would understand why they were picked–you might even be honored to have them there. I don’t think that you’re being fair at all. Just like you have been stereotyped, you are doing it to them, and that’s not what they are about.
Just give Sugarland a listen. If you like them, I’m not going to say “I told you so.” If you don’t like them however, you can tell me I’m an idiot. Just give it a shot.
Lots of people have heard of Sugarland. If you have no taste, I’m sorry. Next year instead of complaining why don’t you do something proactive (and I’m not talking acne here) about it. Or better yet, write mundane articles complaining about the ridiculous (an article on what goes on in a bathroom?) and we’ll keep laughing at your lack of mental prowess.
JB, just because we live in Stillwater, Oklahoma and go to OSU does not mean that we should by any means grasp the idea of country music. I grew up 25 miles east of Stillwater and I have never been a fan of country music, but they could have picked someone better than Sugarland. And the fact that they tried to ‘vary it up’ with Motion City Soundtrack is sickening. These ‘bands’ are terrible, if they should even be called bands.
Lisa, are you trying to convey a sense of humor? Because if so it is failing radically. If using () was the height of comedic writing, I doubt I would ever want to ready again.
While a lot of people may have very well heard of Sugarland, I am sure the same amount of people have heard of Creed. We all know how awesome Creed was. To be honest, I would rather hear the death rattle of my only child, then hear either of these bands.
I agree the bands are terrible. Sugarland is worthless, transparent, pop machine “country” music. The only reason they are called country is because the little guy with his mandolin wears a cowboy hat. And yes I have heard them, regretfully even seen them in concert for a few minutes before I left. Ashton Shepherd is awesome, but I’m not paying $45 to see her. They need a concert with varying tastes, and I’m not goign to try and sound cool and name drop all these bands no one has heard of. We don’t need 50 Cent (LoL) or Linkin Park. Just a lot of different music and make it outside!
Pursuant to JB’s analogy, I guess that we’re all “Sooners,” because we choose to live in the “Sooner State.” The nickname of a University has nothing to do with the musical tastes, or lack thereof, of the student body. I’m a graduate of oSu. I grew up listening to late 60s and early 70s hard rock. I don’t have a cowboy hat. I don’t have any cowboy boots. I’ve never been on a horse, even though I’ve lived all of my life in Oklahoma. And, I don’t listen to country music, my degree from oSu, notwithstanding. I didn’t go to oSu because of its nickname. I didn’t go to oSu because of the name of its mascot. I didn’t go to oSu for a DVM, or agricultural, degree. And, I didn’t go to oSu because of the Farmhouse fraternity. Such things are utterly irrelevant to the musical tastes of an oSu student. The fact remains that, if I was still attending oSu, I wouldn’t go to a Sugarland concert, even if JB paid the freight.
Oh, and, by the way, did I mention that I’m not a “Sooner,” either?
Nick,
Sorry you don’t think I’m funny. I wasn’t trying to be hilarious. The point is not everyone is going to be happy with the choices. If you don’t like Sugarland, get involved in the process next year. Or better yet don’t go to Orange Peel. Saying you would rather hear the death rattle of your only child shows that you are far from being an adult. As a parent I find that your sense of humor is radically lacking.
I don’t plan on going to Orange Peel this year. Also, I tried to get involved in the process, sadly I have to work a job, and go to school. I really do not have time to dedicate to helping choose a band for Orange Peel.
Sadly, the people who do pick the bands, do not go to the students for their opinion. Instead of just picking the bands that they like, instead they should ask the students who they want to hear. While yes, the school may have a cowboy as their mascot, but that doesn’t mean we are all into country music, and on the other hand, Sugarland is not true country. They are this distorted pop version of country.
Just because I enjoy dark humor, doesn’t mean I am a child, just like you being a parent doesn’t mean that you are an adult.
Just because a band and a genre (like Sugarland and country), doesn’t make them good.
Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers are popular, but they all suck.
See my point?
Then buy tickets to concerts you enjoy and leave the rest of us to enjoy the Orange Peel tradition. Is there really a need to bash it? As an adult I am leaving this discussion since it is obviously going nowhere.
I am not bashing it, I am saying that this time around the people who picked the bands chose poorly, just as the guy in Indiana Jones did.
They are out of touch with the students.
You do realize what Orange Peel is right? A concert by the students, for the students. It should be a way for us to get the new freshman interested in coming to the school, because it shows that our school is a community that can get together, and throw a concert, with a well known band headlining.
I also love the snide comments you insert into each of your posts, saying how you are an adult. I really don’t care if you are 18 or if you are 30, the fact that you are an adult doesn’t instantly make you right. Being an adult isn’t about; having kids, working a 8-5 job, owning/renting a house, or graduating from college. None of that makes you an adult. You are not an adult until you really know yourself.
Go without a coat when it’s cold; find out what cold is. Go hungry; keep your existence lean. Wear away the fat, get down to the lean tissue and see what it’s all about. The only time you define your character is when you go without. In times of hardship, you find out what you’re made of and what you’re capable of. If you’re never tested, you’ll never define your character