Spring Weekend, planned and hosted by Campus Activities Board, is a spring semester staple. The weekend usually involves some combination of rides, games, free T-shirts, food trucks, and live music. This year’s live music performance, to be held on May 3, will be country artist Chase Bryant.
CAB announced the concert artist in a Jan. 29 email to Saint Anselm students. Chase Bryant is a country singer who released his first EP in 2014, featuring the single “Take It On Back.” Conor Beswick ’26, CAB’s Assistant Director of Programming, said “Chase Bryant just released his EP Summerville which will lead into an album. We are excited to be part of the early part of his likely eventual album tour.”
About the event, Beswick said, “CAB is very excited to have a major concert return to campus.” He said enthusiastically that “Saint Anselm used to have a tradition of hosting concerts on campus. In the 70s, we hosted The Eagles!” He said “as someone who has no experience in booking a concert or any major event for that matter,” the process of booking Chase Bryant was “eye-opening.”
For the planning of this event, CAB is partnering with the Dana Center and the Student Engagement and Leadership office. These partnerships are just one thing that sets this year’s spring weekend concert apart from past years, according to Beswick and to Zach Castro ’24, CAB’s Director of Programming.
Recapping spring weekend 2023, Beswick said, “we chose not to have an official concert, but rather had performances from Sugah Rush and Fever Dog out on the quad.” In response to feedback after spring weekend 2022’s Colony House concert, Castro said he opted not to plan a spring weekend concert in 2023. Sugah Rush performed on Alumni Quad instead, and Castro said, “Students really loved the performance and even rushed onto the platform at the end! We also had a laser light show that evening with smoke machines. Saturday, as our last event of the weekend, amongst the food trucks and inflatables across the quad, we had a student band perform. This student band is “Fever Dog,” who made their Saint A’s debut at Hillchella.”
In 2022, CAB Assistant Director Hannah Bates ’23 collaborated with former Assistant Director of Student Engagement and Leadership, Dave McKillop, to plan a spring concert. The band Colony House performed, but, “Attendance was met short, and the income was less than expected for that concert. Subsequently, student feedback was that the band was not “well-known” enough for students to be interested in going.”
CAB took student feedback into account when planning Spring Weekend 2024. Castro said, “With the Dana Center, artists were discussed and deliberated (using agents connected with Deleault), until finally a contract was made with Chase Bryant. By working with Dana this time around, there was a bigger opportunity for an artist as we added on another office to help with finances and coordination of the event management.”
Beswick said, “Chase Bryant has a fascinating story and his albums are awesome.” The concert is open to the general public, so students are encouraged to invite family and friends or join them on campus. Tickets for Chase Bryant go on sale to the general public Feb 12th at 9am.
