UofL’s SAB prepared for Miguel’s War & Leisure tour

Singer/songwriter Miguel released his fourth studio album, War & Leisure, in December. He kicked off an extensive North American tour in support of the album that same month.

Next week, on March 7, Miguel will bring his “War & Leisure” tour to the Louisville Palace, courtesy of UofL’s Student Activities Board. The concert, produced by Production Simple, starts at 7:30 p.m.

After a 15-plus-year hiatus, SAB began hosting concerts again in 2013 when it promoted then-rising star Kendrick Lamar at the Palace Theater. The artist has since gone on to win 11 Grammy Awards.

The new concert initiative began with its inclusion in the SGA 2020 Plan and an increase of funding to the SGA and SAB in 2013. More than 15 year prior, the SAB would occasionally host concerts at the Red Barn and other venues, but rising costs ended those concerts until SAB received the funding increase, according to Stuart Neff, SAB’s coordinator for special projects.

Since Kendrick Lamar’s performance, SAB has brought in Craig Campbell, Randy Houser, Chance the Rapper, Jeremih, Matt and Kim, Rae Sremmurd, The White Reapers, Waka Flocka Flame, Migos and Cherub. A wide range of supporting acts have opened these shows.

Sophomore Maddie Offenberger, vice chair of SAB’s concert committee, said planning for the concert began in early November, once SAB’s Homecoming show was over. Concert planning meetings have been held once a week – facilitated by Offenberger and concert chair Evan Tomlinson – and have been open to the student body.

Committee meetings are held to brainstorm artists, look at budgets, plan marketing efforts and more.

“We have our hands in the process every step of the way: we brainstorm artists with our committee, cross-reference sources to see if the artist is attainable with our budget, reach out to a local promoter who then reaches out to the artist's agent, and then work through a contractual process as a group in order to book the show. We then market the event on and off campus to make sure everyone knows about it and gets excited,” she said.

Offenberger said the concert committee receives plenty of student feedback and input. In addition to hosting open meetings, the SAB also generates surveys to get concert planning input.

“We chose to have Miguel for our spring concert because he fits in a genre (R&B/hip-hop/rap) that many different populations of students here tend to like and that has given us successful turnouts in the past,” Offenberger said.

About 1,800 people are expected to attend the March 7 show. Offenberger said she is a big fan of Miguel and is excited to see him perform. However, she is most looking forward to witnessing all of SAB’s hard work coming to fruition.

“We have spent many hours coordinating with lots of different people to program an event that we know students will love and that will bring some positive light and energy to our campus,” she said. “There's no better feeling than watching hard work pay off, especially when it's your own hard work.”

More information about Miguel’s March 7 performance is available online.