Where's Waldo to play on Dean's Date

It’s the final crunch. Tomorrow afternoon, students who rush to the McCosh courtyard to turn in their final papers will be greeted with free kettle corn, ice cream and music from a student band as a clock counts down the minutes and seconds until the 5 p.m. deadline.

The event, sponsored by the USG, will begin at 4:30 p.m., and the first 1,000 students to arrive will each receive a free T-shirt.

Associate Dean of the College Richard Williams will officially close Dean’s Date at 5 p.m. Following his address, student band Where’s Waldo will play.

This is the third year that the spring Dean’s Date deadline will be celebrated with a performance from a band, USG social chair Christian Husby ’08 said. Where’s Waldo is an undergraduate student band that covers a variety of songs from other groups. Its members are Dan Berry ’09, Derek Brooks ’08, Will Griffeth ’08, Walter Hopkins ’08, Matt Wong ’09 and Alison Wood ’08.

Wood said in an e-mail that “the group was formed last year” and has played eight shows to date, “ranging from Lawnparties to the opening of Whitman [C]ollege.”

In previous years, spring Dean’s Date celebrations have included more prominent musical groups, including Joan Jett and the Blackhearts last year and Guster two years ago.

“Half the students can’t make it, and the band will only play for half an hour,” Husby said, explaining why he decided not to arrange for an outside band. He added that the USG set aside $5,000 to $10,000 for the event and that it would be logistically impossible to bring a large band to McCosh courtyard.

Husby said that Where’s Waldo was recommended to him after it played at this year’s Princetonpalooza, a festival last month that showcased student musical talent.

Lawrence Watts ’09 said he was not sure whether having a famous group or a student group is better, but added, “I’d like to see more than one [student] band.”

Watts said that though he enjoyed Guster’s performance two years ago, he felt that Joan Jett and the Blackhearts received a “lukewarm” reaction from the students last year.

 “I’ve heard other classmates mention [Where’s Waldo], but I haven’t thought much about it, and I haven’t heard their music,” Anita Ma ’09 said.

Both Watts and Ma said they felt that the presence of a band is itself a perk. Ma, who caught segments of Dean’s Date performances in previous years while walking by them, said, “It’s really nice to even have the music there in the first place.”

“It’s a nice bonus,” Watts said.

Where’s Waldo has also played at several eating clubs and will play at this year’s Reunions dinner for the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni.

This year, the USG also invited faculty members who have given Dean’s Date assignments to come to the McCosh courtyard to accept the assignments as the deadline approaches. Fifteen to 20 faculty members have accepted the invitation, and others are expected to do so today, Husby said.

“We’ve invited members of the English, history, classics and other departments to come out to McCosh,” Husby said, noting that the USG focused on inviting the professors for large classes.

Husby said he expects more than 1,000 students to come out to the event and the turnout to be comparable to those in previous years.

 

— Senior writer Rachel Dunn contributed reporting.