To hear Emi Horikawa tell it, Sunday night’s Block Party concert is a chance for the Syracuse University student body to relax after a semester of work.

‘It’s a party,’ said Horikawa, the University Union Concerts co-director. ‘It’s time when things are getting stressful, people are studying. And they should want to come to this because it’s just a good time, and that’s what it’s meant to be. It’s meant to be an escape from the classroom and just to celebrate the end of the year.’

It’s unclear, however, if SU students will accept her invitation.

Tickets are still on sale for the show, scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Carrier Dome, and students are still deciding whether they want to see headliner Ciara and the two opening acts, Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco and alternative rock band TV on the Radio.

‘I haven’t really made up my mind yet,’ said Matt Markham, freshman broadcast journalism major.

‘I’m not going, I’ve gone to every Block Party but this one,’ said Amy Turner, junior magazine journalism major.

‘I have no idea if I’m going yet,’ said Adam Kirch, freshman marketing major.

The lineup is in stark contrast to last year’s show, when hip-hop star Kanye West was the headliner and sole star. Opener Rhymefest performed a brisk set before ceding the stage and spotlight to West.

Horikawa said UU wanted to offer an assortment of options instead this year, rather than one major headliner, such as West. Ciara is there for the pop crowd, Lupe for hip-hop fans and TV on the Radio, which won Spin Magazine’s Album of the Year for its 2006 effort, ‘Return to Cookie Mountain,’ for the indie-rock set, Horikawa said.

‘We just wanted to try to bring music that the most people would want to see,’ Horikawa said. ‘I mean, not everybody likes Kanye, listens to hip-hop. I mean, maybe not everybody likes Ciara. So that’s why we brought TV on the Radio.’

The mixed bag lineup has produced mixed reactions from students.

Angeliqua Rufino, undecided freshman in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said while she isn’t sure if she’ll go or not, she’d like to see Ciara. The pop singer, known for her hits ‘Goodies’ and ‘1, 2 Step,’ has freshman Jessica Urracco excited, as well. Urraco said having a show with a variety of acts is a good idea.

‘They’ll attract more people that way,’ she said.

Others are not as an enthused.

‘It’s not the greatest lineup of people,’ Kirch said.

Tickets for Sunday are $15 for students with a valid SU ID and available at the Schine Student Center box office. The general public and SU faculty can purchase tickets at the Dome box office.

Until then, students can decide whether they want to get in on the ‘concert for everyone.’

‘I heard they had better people last year,’ freshman Markhan said. ‘Didn’t they have Kanye West last year?’

Published on April 19, 2007 at 12:00 pm