Everyone has their own opinion as to who should play Spring Fling this May, but wish with caution: Your favorite act may not turn out as planned. Take these tales of Spring Flings past as tales of caution…
1896: Way, way back, the “Spring-time Gaiety Festival” did not just feature music, but plays, lectures, and vaudeville. The 1896 production of “Henry VIII” took place during a torrential rainstorm, and the producers, not thinking to book an indoor spot in case of rain, performed outdoors, in front of a sparse crowd. Three cast members came down with pneumonia, and the actress playing Anne Boleyn was struck by lightning. The Connecticut Shakespeare Guild later settled out of court.
1928: Kevin Kingsbury and the 5th Street Quartet refuse to finish their set when the stage is overrun with kids doing the Charleston. This particular Spring Fling was also notable for a buried still of bathtub gin exploding under Foss Hill.
1951: A series of four different acts are scheduled for Spring Fling, and each is declared communist. No live music is ultimately scheduled, replaced by a record playing God Bless America and a medley of John Phillip Sousa marches.
1975: In an incredible coup, the Spring Fling committee manages to book Elvis after the previously scheduled Neil Young is forced to back out due to a confrontation with an angry southerner. The performance, rescheduled from its usual time to nightfall, attracts thousands to Foss Hill, but the King doesn’t take the stage until 11:30 and proceeds to slur through his songs, talk for ten minutes about his recent bowel movements, and fall face-first into the crowd in the middle of “Suspicious Minds.”
1988: Rick Astley rolls into Spring Fling. He is underappreciated.
1992: Two divergent groups on the activities board spend the entirety of the winter pushing for 2 Live Crew and Sinead O’Connor, respectively. After tensions rise to the point where every meeting ends in a flurry of racial and sexual orientation-related slurs, the administration steps in and selects a compromise act. Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch ends up pleasing no one.
Comments are closed