Rarely is campus more abuzz than the days that the Welcome Back, Conquest! and Springfest lineups are announced by the USC Concerts Committee, even more so following the announcement of Don Toliver as this year’s Springfest headliner.

Despite the hype surrounding the thought of an artist as massive as Don Toliver putting on a show for USC’s students and their guests, few fully understand the logistics necessary to put on these massive concerts and who exactly carries the workload. In this case, it’s the Concerts Committee, one of four committees within the Undergraduate Student Government.

The committee is led by co-executive directors Madi Ingrassia and Anish Lahorani, alongside assistant director Vrishti Patel.

Due to the committee’s structure, the three executives work largely autonomously from USG, holding responsibility over fundamentals which include threat assessment, finances, talent contract negotiations and coordination with University throughways such as Campus Activities. However, the executives wanted to break that precedent with more participation from other student groups.

“One of the things that the three of us have had vision for all year has been to have a cultural stage at Springfest where we would collaborate with other cultural assemblies within USG to bring an artist that speaks to their student population and have them featured at Springfest,” said Ingrassia, a senior majoring in music industry.

This year’s programming will bridge the gap between other USG entities by creating a dialogue with the Asian Pacific American Student Assembly, International Student Assembly and Speakers Committee. Before Springfest takes place Friday night, the USG groups will host a conversation with Springfest supporting artist Lyn Lapid at noon in the Forum at Tutor Campus Center, the first of its kind in tandem with a Concerts Committee event.

With talent like Lapid and Toliver gracing the stage, it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of the upcoming massive live show; however, for the Concerts Committee, and especially for Ingrassia, Lahorani and Patel, the work will only increase as the event nears.

“We see every single stage of the process,” Ingrassia said. “We are booking the staging, we’re booking the fencing, we’re booking the security, we’re booking the porta-potties, we’re booking the food — name one aspect of the show, and that’s us.”

Dealing with obstacles like radius clauses, pressure from fellow students to secure a popular artist and staying within their budget is only the beginning, as the three executives also oversee aspects of event production such as risk management.

“[The three executives] oversee the executive board and all the production risk,” said Lahorani, a senior majoring in music industry as well as economics. “We pay for DPS and CSC, all of that is paid by us. Around two-thirds of our budget goes toward things that are not the actual show.”

Thankfully, the executives are not alone: They oversee almost 30 additional members of the executive board, split among nine subcommittees, all working to promote and produce the show itself.

“[The executive board] actually care[s] so much. They were working through spring break too, like it wasn’t just us taking Zoom calls and answering emails,” said Patel, a junior majoring in music industry. “They were working on graphics and they were working on marketing, and it was just great to see how much they care and how much work that they put into this show. We don’t feel like we’re carrying everything.”

At the end of the day, the three executives all agreed that despite the work being tough, the real-world experience of serving in the Concerts Committee, along with the passionate people who work to put on the shows, ultimately sets the committee apart from other live event student groups on campus.

“[Concerts Committee] very realistically mimics the real world and how the music industry operates. You’re working with real agents who work at agencies. You’re working with real production companies who don’t just do college events, they do tours across the globe,” Lahorani said. “It’s just re-solidified my passion for live music.”

The goal of the Concerts Committee is to bring relevant, live music to the University’s campus, and the executives feel most rewarded when witnessing the excitement that their shows evoke throughout the student body, especially following the announcement of Toliver as Friday’s headliner.

“It’s not just people you know that are excited, but people that you don’t even know that this is what they’ve been looking forward to since they knew it was happening,” Patel said. “That’s the most rewarding part, is not even making a bunch of people happy but making those one or two superfans super excited to see their favorite artists.”