Reaching their decision weeks earlier than in years past, the Carolina Athletic Association announced Monday that The Roots will perform this year's Homecoming concert.
The seminal Philadelphia hip-hop group was tapped to perform at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4 at Memorial Hall, CAA President Rachel High said.
Student tickets, priced at $15, could be available as soon as one week before Fall Break, High said. Tickets for the general public will go on sale for $30 one week before the concert.
The band is being paid $40,000 plus yet-to-be-determined technical costs for their show, High said.
"We knew they appealed to a pretty broad audience," she said. "I think it appeals to a much wider audience than Common or John Legend."
CAA and the Carolina Union Activities Board, which funds part of the concert, recently were met with criticism because of the homogeny of their choice of acts - in the past two years, the Homecoming concert has featured hip-hop or R&B artists.
While The Roots continues that trend, CUAB President Erika Stallings said the concert has a lot more to offer students.
"I've just told some people, and they've all been really excited," she said. "I think students will be excited, and it's a show that I think people should go to even if they've never heard them."
The Homecoming committee has additional money left over from its $60,000 budget, and they are hoping to book a second act for a follow-up concert, which Homecoming committee co-chairman Pablo Friedmann said would be specific to the rock or indie rock genre.
High also is optimistic that a second show will be booked.
"We are highly looking into the possibility of having a second Memorial Hall show of a different genre," she said. "It'll be after The Roots' show, but it will actually be during Homecoming week and only for students."
High and Stallings said The Roots expressed interest in coming to Chapel Hill before an offer was extended.
"They really wanted to come here as well, which we knew would make it much more of a high-quality show," High said. "But we wanted to wait and see if other high-quality acts weren't going to be able to make it."
