Jeremih’s band performed without him. Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar
Jeremih has proven once again how unprofessional he can be. Not only was he disrespectful enough to send a stunt double as his replacement for the Jeremih and Party Next Door’s Summer’s Over tour in Houston a few years ago, but he wasted the time and money of every single student last Saturday night at the Frontier Fiesta.
Frontier Fiesta was established at UH in 1939 as a three-day western-themed festival free for students to enjoy, filled with rides, booths, and a concert. Last year’s headline performer was D.R.A.M., which wasn’t too bad, but definitely not as exciting as Big Sean or Schoolboy Q’s past Fiesta performances. Jeremih wasn’t the greatest pick to begin with, but he was good enough for people to anticipate the performance and show up early.
While students filled the crowd, waiting for the clock to strike 10 p.m., an official tweet from the Student Program Board, tasked with arranging the Fiesta concert, broke the news that Jeremih was sick and wouldn’t be able to perform, but his band would.
Disappointing, but not surprising.
Jeremih’s band performed without him. Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar
What’s tacky and annoying is the fact that Jeremih didn’t even bother informing his fans at UH about his sudden so-called sickness, and left SPB to scramble at the very last minute to fix the problem he caused. Thrown under the bus and at the mercy of coogs, SPB and Frontier Fiesta couldn’t do anything about their lack of entertainment for the night despite having already signed a contract with the singer that stated his agreement to perform.
Frontier Fiesta had the largest attendance when Schoolboy Q performed back in 2015, with 30,000 people showing up, but attendance has fallen in the past 2 years.
In 2016, FFA created a survey pertaining to what style of music genre and what artist students wanted to see at Frontier Fiesta, including what they enjoyed about the event in the past, and how the event could be improved. More than 7 percent of the respondents stated they had never heard of the event and 47.64 percent of the 474 respondents stated they had heard of Frontier Fiesta, but hadn’t been before.
One thing is for certain, if you agreed to perform and signed as an artist at the University of Houston, take our student body seriously.
Frontier Fiesta is run each year by a board of students, funded by student fees, who spend months preparing for the event. Money from fans and non-fans alike is taken out in the form of student fees to fund the Frontier Fiesta performance itself — a historic and memorable event for students that happens only once each year.
So, falling through on your commitment is unprofessional and distasteful, especially if people can count the number of hits you’ve had with one hand.
