Doug Wexler sat patiently in front of his computer at 10:55 a.m. Tuesday, staring at Ticketmaster. He refreshed the Web page every 30 seconds, waiting for it to go live. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.

Wexler, a junior political science major, was one of many students who bought online presale tickets for this year’s Block Party, headlined by Kid Cudi. He had floor seats for last year’s show and knew he wanted those again.

‘Block Party is the best concert of the year,’ Wexler said. ‘When you’re sitting so close, it’s like you’re actually in the performance.’

Cudi, Nas and Damian Marley, and an unannounced opening act will perform in the Carrier Dome for Block Party on April 29 at 7 p.m. Tickets, on sale through the Syracuse University Athletics website, cost $15 for students with a valid SU or State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry ID.

Since announcing two of the Block Party acts, University Union President Andrew Beyda received positive reactions to the selections, which is reflected by the sales. More tickets were sold during the first hour of selling tickets than during the entire first week of sales for last year’s Block Party, which featured rapper Drake.

‘We sold 4,200 tickets during the first week last year, and we far surpassed that in one hour,’ Beyda said. ‘As we got updates from the Dome, we literally couldn’t believe it. We told our faculty adviser, and he thought we were kidding.’

Tickets were selling so quickly that at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, the Ticketmaster website displayed a message stating tickets were unavailable. Carrier Dome Box Office officials called Beyda and told him they needed some time to verify the orders and make sure the seats were assigned correctly. Online sales were still unavailable as of Tuesday night, but Beyda said tickets are still available, and the site would be back up Wednesday morning.

‘It’s an unfortunate thing that happens sometimes, and it’s out of our control,’ Beyda said. ‘It’s not discouraging anyone from buying tickets, just delaying them.’

Gino Zarrillo didn’t face any delays and bought six tickets, which is the maximum, for friends back home. He was pleased with all of this year’s selections, including those for Block Party. Some of his favorite Cudi songs are ‘Cleveland is the Reason’ and ‘Up Up and Away.’

‘This is the best-case scenario, given the survey that came out,’ said Zarrillo, a sophomore broadcast journalism major.

He said he likes Cudi’s musical style and his ability to be unique without trying to change himself.

‘I think he’s hilarious, and he’s comfortable in his own image,’ Zarrillo said. ‘As a person, he’s been through a lot, and I’m really proud he makes music the way he does.’

Zarrillo also appreciates the choice for the supporting acts, Nas and Damian Marley, and hopes Nas will perform some of his own songs as well.

‘Nas is one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time, and his music is thought-provoking and socially conscious,’ Zarrillo said. ‘He has such an amazing library of songs as a solo artist that it would be a shame for him not to perform any for his loyal fans.’

Though thousands of students were up at 11 a.m. for Cudi, Mike Bradley took a nap between classes and had no intention of buying tickets. Overall, Bradley has enjoyed UU’s selections and was excited to find out who the 2011 Block Party headliner would be. But he was disappointed when UU officials announced it was Cudi.

‘I’d say they’re a year or two late in bringing Cudi — he hasn’t put out quality music since 2009,’ said Bradley, a junior psychology major. ‘And personally, I know friends who have seen him say he’s a terrible live performer.’

Some students wished UU would mix up the genre of acts brought to campus. Melia Robinson, a sophomore magazine journalism and information management and technology major, said the lineups for the past year have been too similar — and though that works for many students, it doesn’t work for everyone.

‘I had no idea who Kid Cudi was,’ Robinson said. ‘If you list off the lineups in the last year, it’s so homogenous and draws from the same music genre. I don’t think they’re catering to people with more alternative tastes.’

However, Robinson appreciates the student survey, on which Cudi had the highest demand. Despite her wishing there were more diversity in the acts, Robinson still bought four tickets Tuesday.

‘I might be disappointed, but Block Party is a fun event and has a great atmosphere,’ Robinson said.

It’s impossible to please everyone, but UU’s Beyda said he feels UU officials have come pretty close.

‘The only unhappy person I’ve heard of is someone who’s abroad and can’t go,’ Beyda said. ‘We do the surveys to appeal to the broadest number of students. So in an ideal world, if we’re doing our job right, we’re making everyone happy.’

mainthia@syr.edu

Published on March 1, 2011 at 12:00 pm