Spring is here! In honor of Spring Fling this weekend we decided to research the history of spring fling and the dozens of acts that have visited Tufts over the years.
Spring Fling originated in 1980* when the TCU Senate decided to spend their unexpected budget surplus on a blowout event to mark the coming end of the year. The first Spring Fling featured a SPIRIT (Society for the Preservation of Internal Rejoicing at Tufts)-sponsored picnic, a 10k road race (called the Jumbo Stampede), and a farewell speech by Dean Bernie Harleston. It served as a backdrop to many parties, including four fraternity parties hosted by the Inter Dormitory Council.
The inaugural Spring Fling concert featured the Pousette-Dart Band and was sponsored by the Tufts Observer and TCU Senate. The event was capped with a performance by Zion Initiation sponsored by Apple Jam, a student club dedicated to producing live music and art events, and an Intercultural Jam with performances by campus cultural groups sponsored by Total Eclipse, a club made up of Black seniors whose purpose was to provide guidance and assistance to underclassmen.
By the time next year rolled around, Spring Fling was starting to look official, with a charter, a Program Board consisting of 17 student members, and an executive board. The weekend’s activities featured three bands, an Apple Jam concert, and roller-skating in the Quad.
The early years of Spring Fling were spent defining and refining this new tradition. In 1982 the planning committee wrestled with the question of whether to charge Tufts students admission to the concert, but ultimately decided to keep the concert free. In 1984, Spring Fling was caught in the shadow of campus’s alcohol culture, and the “social policy” proposed in response. The proposed policy mandated that free food and non-alcoholic beverages be available at every event with alcohol, that more stringent procedures to prevent underage drinking be put in place, and that alcohol only be served by campus-provided bartenders accompanied by university police to oversee hand-stamping procedures.
The impact of this proposed policy on Spring Fling was significant – but also, Director of Student Activities Kathy Watson Baker noted, highly relevant and preferable to cancelling Spring Fling altogether or making the weekend a dry event. The policy was eventually delayed in implementation until the following academic year. That year, however, kegs were banned from Spring Fling (as were beerballs and beer bottles), and university police were put in place to prevent students from carrying open containers off the President’s Lawn. Additionally, the Spring Fling Committee decided not to serve alcohol to concertgoers.
Heading into spring 1985, the future of Spring Fling was uncertain. A new “social policy” had been implemented (coinciding with the change in legal drinking age from 18 to 21), but administrators were worried it would be ignored. Previous Spring Flings, Kathy Baker noted in September ‘84, were hazardous, with injuries attributed to heavy drinking, fist fights, and arrests (though none of those arrested were Tufts students).
Over the next several years the future of Spring Fling continued to hang in the balance, this time due to late sign-ups of the nearly 100 volunteers necessary to hold the event. Letters appeared in student newspapers up to a week before the event begging for volunteers and threatening event cancellation if the quota was not met. Alcohol at Spring Fling also continued to be a matter of concern, as did campus opinions on both Spring Fling regulations and signed acts. “Spring Flop” was a popular nickname for the event, and dueling letters to the editor appeared both bashing and supporting musical acts signed for the annual event.
The troubling topic of alcohol at Spring Fling came to a head in 2009, a year notable both for the headliner (Ludacris) and the fact that Spring Fling 2009 was classified as a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) as concertgoers needing emergency medical services exceeded the resources available not only from campus EMS services, but also Somerville and Medford ambulance services. Some 30 people were tended to by EMS. In response to this and ongoing concerns about alcohol culture on campus, Spring Fling 2010 became a mandated dry event. Thankfully, various precautions and preventative measures (including free breakfast offered before the concert) appeared to work: 14 people required emergency medical services, about half the previous year’s numbers, and 9 students were transported to the hospital, also a significant decrease.
Over the years Spring Fling has been a great showcase for Tufts talent as well as what’s going on in the wider landscape of popular music. Many Tufts Battle of the Bands winners have warmed up the crowd for the acts with names better known beyond The Hill, and alternative rockers Guster, whose members met at Tufts as undergrads in the 1990s, have been on the bill multiple times since achieving wider renown. In all, more than 140 performers across many different genres have graced the Spring Fling stage.
Spring Fling has continued as a Tufts tradition, taking a brief hiatus in 2020 and 2021. This April students will, for the 44th time, gather on the President’s Lawn for the event’s headliner concert and to let loose before buckling down to study for finals.
Happy Spring Fling, Tufts!
*Okay, technically the first event held on campus called Spring Fling was a freshman dance thrown in March, 1957!
A List of Spring Fling acts:
1981: Pousette-Dart, James Montgomery Band, NRBQ (New Rhythm and Blues Quartet)
1982: Gary U.S. Bonds (cancelled); Clarence Clemmons, Chubby Checker
1983: David Johansen (declined, was then booked for the Thursday before Spring Fling and appeared at the MacPhie Pub with special guests Berlin Airlift); NRBQ, Evelyn King (source)
1984: The Outlaws (MacPhie Pub); The Stompers, Junior Walker, Right Time
1985: Til Tuesday (pulled out to tour with Hall and Oats); Digney Fignus, the Bus Boys
1986: Ministry, Scruffy the Cat; Lyle Mays (member of Pat Metheny band), Plate-o-shrimp
1987: Squeeze (declined); Smithereens, Bongos, and Plate O’ Shrimp
1988: Billy Bragg (MacPhie Pub); Stevie Ray Vaughn, Treat Her Right
1989: Otis Day and the Knights (MacPhie Pub); The Robert Cray Band featuring The Mephis Horns, Ivan Neville and the Room, Plan B (Winner of the first Tufts battle of the bands)
1990: The Band featuring Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and friends, Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, The Strapping Young Bucks (winner of Tufts Battle of the Bands)
1991: Heretix, Cheap Trick
1992: Urban Blight, Shinehead, Blues Traveller
1993: Violent Femmes, Lemonheads, Digable Planets
1994: Thumber (Tufts band), Queen Latifah, Brian Dewan, They Might Be Giants
1995: Brand Nubian, Buffalo Tom, B.B. King
1996: moe., George Clinton, Violent Femmes (again!)
1997: G. Love & Special Sauce, Barenaked Ladies, A Tribe Called Quest
1998: Less Than Jake (pulled out due to sickness); The Amazing Royal Crowns, Maceo Parker, Hall’s Corner Band, LL Cool J
1999: Brother Chameleon (winner of Tufts Battle of the Bands), Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Sugar Hill Gang, Ben Folds Five
2000: The Joe Deveau Band (winner of the Tufts Battle of the Bands), Reel Big Fish, Better than Ezra, The Roots
2001: Redshift (winner of Tufts Battle of the Bands), Jurassic 5, Original P, and Guster
2002: Boston Funk Band (winner of Tufts Battle of the Bands), Toots and the Maytals, Mobb Deep, moe.
2003: Drowned (winner of Tufts Battle of the bands), Reel Big Fish (again), Busta Rhymes
2004: The Mark, Sugar Hill Gang, Less Than Jake, The Roots
2005: Busta Rhymes was scheduled, but canceled due to safety concerns about the electricity and weather
2006: Melodesiac, The Slip, Guster, Blackalicious
2007: Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, Spoon, Lupe Fiasco, T.I.
2008: FunkSoulLove, Common, The Dropkick Murphys
2009: The Ride, Brennivin (both Tufts bands), Asher Roth, The Decemberists, Ludacris
2010: 10th Avenue Supergroup (battle of the bands winner), OK Go, Drake
2011: Roots, RJD2
2012: Lupe Fiasco, The White Panda, Guster
2013: Jay Roth (winner of Tufts battle of the bands), 5 & A Dime, Yeasayer, Nelly
2014: Waldo (battle of the bands winner), The New Pornographers, Flosstradamus, Childish Gambino
2015: Lion Babe (battle of the bands winner), MisterWives, Ke$ha
2016: Shaggy, Børns, Matt & Kim
2017: T-Pain (Canceled); Amine, Metro Boomin, Tinashe
2018: Princess Nokia, Quinn XCII, Dutch Rebelle, Ty Dolla $ign
2019: Rico Nasty, Marcella Cruz, and A$AP Ferg
2020: No Spring Fling held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021: No Spring Fling held
2022: Ella Jane, Bia, Dayglow, Amine
2023: Fease (student band), Flo Rida, Cheat Codes, Charlie Curtis-Beard
2024: Iyaz, TKay Maidza, Jordin Sparks
2025: Hot Chelle Rae, Quinn XCII (again!), Tinashe (again!) (source)
2026: Grouplove, Zara Larsson