Chainsmokers, Wallows, were on USC Springfest shortlist

USC’s student-run Concerts Committee identified the Chainsmokers and Wallows, among others, as potential headliners for this year’s Springfest concert before eventually landing on Ty Dolla $ign, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

The committee was close to closing a deal with the Chainsmokers, but the EDM duo had a scheduling conflict, one source said. Wallows, on the other hand, was vetoed by the school’s Department of Public Safety because the indie band apparently has a history of distributing alcohol at concerts.

“Springfest is a dry event,” DPS Chief Lauretta Hill wrote in a statement. “Wallows was not considered based on this.”

The Concerts Committee never reached final negotiations with Wallows, one source said, so there’s no guarantee that the group would’ve performed at USC if not for the DPS veto.

Springfest, which is free for students, is generally one of the most-anticipated events of the school year. This year’s show is set for Saturday in McCarthy Quad and will feature the hyperpop group Frost Children and singer-songwriter Lana Lubany alongside Ty Dolla $ign.

It’s unclear how much the Concerts Committee is paying the artists, but its total budget this year is $548,000, according to Undergraduate Student Government documents. The committee is also responsible for the Welcome Back and Conquest concerts.

Past Springfest headliners have included Denzel Curry, Portugal. The Man, Dominic Fike, 2 Chainz, Migos, and Glass Animals. Last year, the rapper Don Toliver headlined the concert, which was held inside the Coliseum for the first time ever.

Springfest is a massive undertaking. The events typically host several thousand students in the center of USC’s campus and can quickly go awry without proper planning. In 2017, the Los Angeles Fire Department shut down the event due to “overcrowding” and transported one person to the hospital.

Then there’s the matter of wrangling artists.

“Coachella is a big issue for us, just because everybody who’s on the Coachella lineup can’t perform here because of radius clauses,” a Concerts Committee organizer said, referring to non-compete clauses that bar artists from performing nearby for a certain amount of time.

The committee has in the past sought Charli XCX and Katseye, said the organizer, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss internal conversations.

“It’s super back and forth,” the organizer said. “Sometimes things don’t work for no good reason and you’re back to the drawing board, so props to our executive team for the perseverance.”

Tomo Chien can be reached at [email protected].