The University’s most recent attempt to thwart attendance at the Homecoming celebrations on Aberdeen Street is taking shape as a five-hour concert at Miller parking lot, featuring bands like Metric and Billy Talent. The details of a licensed area aren’t clear yet, but it is clear the University is spending a large amount of money to deter students from partying on Aberdeen Street. It has even gone so far as to request an exemption from the noise bylaw so that the concert can continue past the 11 p.m. cutoff time.
Considering the low attendance at last year’s “Crash the Ceilidh,” the concert is shaping up to be a huge improvement. The prospect of a free show with popular bands will definitely be more enticing to students than last year’s attempt.
However, the bands scheduled to play the Homecoming concert will not appeal to every student or alumnus and there will still be those who will choose to party on Aberdeen.
The concert won’t provide an atmosphere conducive to the mingling of students and alumni the way Aberdeen does. The sentiment of Homecoming is embodied by Aberdeen and it is a tradition that will be hard to break.
The University has organized the concert with concerns of Kingston residents in mind. That fact makes the negative community response to the concert all the more surprising. Former city councillor and Bagot Street resident Don Rogers expressed his objections to the concert. He commented to the Journal, “[The concert] is supposedly another Aberdeen Street debacle … [but] why should residents have to suffer noise after midnight in their neighbourhood in order to prevent a lawless activity—illegal law breaking such as happened last year?” The University has asked for the exemption in order to keep students at the concert longer and consequently, away from residents’ houses.
Although the concert may not succeed in eclipsing Aberdeen, the Kingston community should appreciate that a good alternative is being offered and that the University is spending significant money to address the concerns of people who are not its primary constituents.
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