The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

Dayglow event relocated to Danville

After a couple chaotic weeks in planning the Dayglow tour’s local event, the promoters of “the world’s largest paint party” have settled on nearly all the details of Sept. 24’s concert.

The event will be held at the David S. Palmer Arena in Danville. DJs Robbie Rivera and David Solano, both of whom have performed at past Dayglow events, will be headlining, along with aerialists, acrobats and a custom light show by Wildchild World. Free bus transportation will be provided to and from the event. Event promoters from Hottest College Parties, LLC, Matt Meyer, senior in AHS and Zach Samson have no plans to offer refunds to ticket holders at this time.

Dayglow is a concert event at which attendees are covered in neon paint while dancing to beats spun live by professional DJs. Dayglow’s fall tour, BLU (Beats, Love, Unity) was advertised to hit Urbana’s 88 Broadway, at Lincoln Square Mall, on Sept. 24. However, following the denial of Dayglow’s special event permit request by the city of Urbana in mid-August, Meyer, senior in AHS, Samson and Jeff Grant, owner of 88 Broadway and Fluid Events, were left to find an alternative venue.

Meyer and Samson applied for a permit in the city of Champaign, but were notified of this permit denial on Aug. 23. All the while, though, Dayglow’s Facebook event page still stated the concert would take place in the Lincoln Square Mall parking lot, as did the tickets sold to over 4,000 people, with University students making up a large majority of ticket holders. Only after The Daily Illini reported the permit denials and location change on Aug. 25 did Meyer and Sampson announce the facts through their social media. Meyer and Samson said they never expected to run into problems like this, and decided to not tell ticket holders because they were working on alternative solutions.

“We didn’t tell our ticketholders because we didn’t feel it was going to be an issue,” Meyer said. “We had multiple backup venues and knew we could get the situation under control. We kept everything under wraps because we sold so many tickets and needed to make sure the event happened.”

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According to the Urbana and Champaign police departments, the main reason the permits were denied in both cities was due to security issues. Since there is a home football game against Western Michigan University on Sept. 24, the police forces from both cities will already be spread thin, said Champaign Police Sgt. Scott Friedlein.

Meyer said attendees can bring their Dayglow tickets to Red Lion and Fat Sandwich at specific dates in the next month to redeem them for a bus ticket. Buses will pick up and drop off attendees from an undisclosed location in Campustown. Sixty five buses have already been reserved through Illinois Central Bus Company, based in Joliet.

Once attendees are off the buses and into the arena, Samson said he is confident in a positive response from ticket holders.

“We don’t feel like we were doing any false advertising, we just ran into issues,” Samson said. “We’re making up for it with free transportation for everyone and everyone’s going to be happy.”

Meyer said he has not heard from any ticket holder who was dissatisfied with the situation, but if there was a major problem, he and Samson would look into offering refunds.

Charles Tabb, professor of law, specializing in bankruptcy, contracts and commercial law, said there are two ways at looking at an obligation for a refund in this situation. “If they sell you tickets to an event that say Lincoln Square Mall, they have to put on an event that’s at Lincoln Square Mall … as a matter of strict contract law,” he said.

However, the free transportation to the event may shed new light on the deal, Tabb said.

“Essentially the new bargain, one could argue, (is that) ticket holders are electing not to seek a refund, effectively they’re doing so because they’re accepting this new promise for a bus ride.”

Meyer expects all 4,700 tickets to sell out as only 250 are remaining. Several local companies and associations are sponsoring the event including Red Lion, Fat Sandwich, Illinois Skydiving Center and Fluid Events, which is helping with the production of the event.

Meyer said he expects Dayglow to be a great success, even with the “hiccups” experienced along the way.

“We guarantee an incredible experience this campus has never seen before,” he said.

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