Pomona’s annual Harwood Halloween concert and party featured the funk band Breakestra and the hip-hop group People Under the Stairs. The groups performed in the courtyard area between Walker and Clark dorms. The after-party took place in the Harwood courtyard.

"I thought they were both very, very good bands," said Zach Meyer-Krings ’02. "They were high-caliber and were definitely above the norm for college shows."

Committee for Campus Life and Activities Coordinator Liz Fasse agreed. "Pretty much everyone there enjoyed the show," she said.

Both Breakestra and People have played shows at larger venues, including, in People’s case, UCLA.

"L.A. rappers Tres One and Double K compose the People Under the Stairs, an underground hip-hop outfit devoted to jazzy samples, danceable beats, intricate rhyming skills, and laid-back humor," allmusic.com said.

"It was pretty obvious that [People] were writing smart, inventive, and talented lyrics," said Meyer-Krings.

About Breakestra, the headlining band, Meyer-Krings said, "They’re more of a live show band…. There were definitely no weak points." Meyer-Krings also mentioned that Breakestra’s lead singer, bassist and rhythm section were especially talented.

Although most of those who attended seemed to be impressed by the bands’ performances, the actual turnout for the concert portion of the event was pretty low.

According to Fasse, 379 tickets to the event were sold, bringing in $2100. The after-party, which was free, had an estimated 1500 to 2000 people in attendance.

Including the costs of having "Breakestra" and "People" perform, the net loss for the concert and after-party totaled about $10,000 to $15,000.

"I would say that it is about 1/3 of our budget," noted Fasse.

Fasse also mentioned that this year’s concert turnout was about half of what it was the year before, when the rock band "Dispatch" played.

Fasse listed a few reasons why there was such a low turnout.

First, "Pomona students have been conditioned after the past years not to pay for events." Since the concert cost $5 to attend, Fasse believes that Pomona students were intimidated by the cost, even though both of these bands have played shows in the past that were about $20 per ticket.

Second, alcohol is only served at the after-party, which might have discouraged some students from attending.

"It’s more or less ridiculous that people are unwilling to come to an event unless there is alcohol there," said CCLA member Mikey Gaertner ’02.

Third, the Residence Hall Staff was throwing another event at the Smith Campus Center Ballroom the same night, and this may have drawn people away from the concert.

Due to the lack of attendance, drastic changes may have to be made to the Harwood Halloween program in the future. "We are probably going to suggest cutting out the music performance [in subsequent years]," said Fasse.

"The whole spirit of Harwood is lost," lamented Gaertner, adding that it might as well become "another keg and DJ party" in the future.