Acclaimed indie-pop duo The Cataracs will not be a part of this year’s Last Day of Classes celebration, LDOC committee co-chairs announced Tuesday.
Representatives of Indie-Pop Music, the Cataracs’ record label, canceled The Cataracs’ performance to allow the band to attend an awards show April 27. The Cataracs was recently nominated for an award by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for “Pop Song of the Year,” and the pair plans to attend the gala in Los Angeles, Indie-Pop Music Vice President Carlo Fox wrote in a Tuesday email to The Chronicle.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a major stepping stone in their career as young writers [and] producers,” Fox wrote. “The group would love to reschedule and get a chance to perform for their Duke fans.”
Junior Lindsay Tomson, co-chair of the LDOC committee, said the group received an email Friday from Indie-Pop Music regarding the band’s conflict. Students were subsequently notified of the change in an email Tuesday morning.
“I’m not sure if we can reschedule with the agency; I think it depends on how our relationship continues with them,” Tomson said in reference to the possibility of a future Cataracs performance at the University.
Although LDOC is less than a month away, the committee will try to secure a full line-up in time for the celebration, said LDOC committee co-chair Will Benesh, a senior.
Tomson said the committee is currently looking for an artist of the same indie-pop genre that would appeal to Cataracs fans, adding that the group must consider artists within a certain price range.
Several students expressed concern about The Cataracs’ withdrawal and recording artist Dev’s ability to perform a solo act.
“It’s disappointing,” said sophomore Jennifer Wang. “I’m glad that Dev is still performing, but I don’t think her performance will be as good without the Cataracs.”
Tomson also noted that the committee shared similar concerns about the rest of the lineup.
“We considered if we wanted [Dev] to perform without The Cataracs,” she said. “But the students were excited about her and at this point we can’t afford to lose another artist on purpose. She performs by herself a lot, so we aren’t worried about it.”
This is not the first time an artist has canceled an LDOC performance. In Spring 2008, rapper Lupe Fiasco called off his scheduled appearance in order to go on tour with rapper Kanye West, singer Rihanna and alternative band N.E.R.D.
Although Fiasco was verbally rescheduled to perform the following semester, he did not perform at Duke for nearly three years, until March 31, 2011.
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