Campus Activities Team sold about 2,100 tickets to this year’s spring concert, The Fray, according to Director of Student Development Tom Mogan. 

“I thought we would do better than we did,” Mogan said.

One-third of the tickets sold went to faculty, staff and guests. 

“The few students who were there did enjoy it, but I think it was a disappointment that not enough students came to enjoy the experience,” freshman Joey Jestus said. “The Fray was a lot of fun, a good show, but it’s up to the upperclassmen to say if it is a fair substitute for NovaFest.”

This year’s concert sold more tickets than last year’s show by Gym Class Heroes, though The Fray was a much more expensive act and required much higher ticket sales for CAT to break even.

“If it was too much less than that, then I think we would have taken a hit financially,” said Rev. John Stack, O.S.A., vice president for Student Life.

“After surveying [more than] 2,000 current Villanova students through various activities, Villanova University groups and the Web, CAT found that The Fray was the third most popular band of those surveyed,” Assistant Director of Student Development and Student Programs Nikki Hornsberry wrote in an e-mail. “The Fray tickets normally go for $65 and more.”

“I thought that they were great performers live,” freshman Amira Jibrine said. “I saw them last summer at the Susquehanna Bank Center, and this concert was done just as well. Students of all preferences could have enjoyed The Fray, and I thought it was a great decision by CAT to bring them.”

According to an article published in The Heights, Boston College’s student newspaper, the crowd at The Fray’s performance there on April 22 was smaller in size than at the school’s previous concerts, leading to monetary losses.

“I chose not to attend The Fray because I did not deem it a festive occasion to commence my NovaFest weekend,” sophomore Jack Widmann said. “I feel like what should have been the climax of the weekend was in fact a poor start to an uneventful week put to death by the Villanova administration and CAT.”