“When you tell me I’m a wreck, say that I’m a mess, how could you expect anything less?”

Those are lyrics from Every Avenue’s popular song Tell Me I’m A Wreck, and you might just hear them performed live here at Simpson College thanks to the Campus Activities Board (CAB) but only if you purchase a ticket.

Every Avenue will be performing here at Simpson on February 22, but this is one event that Simpson students can’t just walk into: a Simpson student ticket is $3, tickets for the general public are $15 and all tickets cost $15 the day of the show, regardless of if you are a student.

This is unusual for an event on campus, especially an event from CAB.

“It really goes back to trying to give the students what they consistently ask for and that’s a ‘bigger name show;’ we just don’t have the resources to do it for free,” Assistant Director of Student Activities Sarah Harl said.

The ticket prices are not in place to create a profit for CAB.

“We’re not looking to make money off the show, we’re definitely not going to make any money, but it’ll help,” Harl said. “It’s one of those things that if (concerts like this are) something we want to continue doing in the future, we have to be as financially responsible with the funds we are given by Student Government Association (as possible).”

CAB also tried to keep the ticket prices as reasonable as possible.

“When we were looking at this particular Every Avenue show, when we would go see it at other venues, other places, we felt that $3 was basically a steal for students to be able to see it,” Harl said.

One rumor that has been circulating around campus in recent weeks is that ticket sales have been doing poorly.

“They are going well,” Harl said. “Not as crazy out-of-the-park as you would hope, I guess, but definitely realistic for looking at our first show in a building and our first time trying to do something of this scale and this nature.”

Ticket sales, as expected, are going much better on-campus than from non-students.

“The entire concert industry and the business is all a game of whom you know and who’s talking about you,” Harl said. “Until we get this first show under our belt, and (people) come in and see that it’s just as good of a venue as they’re going to get in Des Moines and that it’s a really great opportunity for them, once that starts happening, and we start getting that buzz generated, we’ll see increased ticket sales for off-campus.”

CAB has had many difficulties so far this year, with the biggest being the cancellation of The Ready Set’s show that was scheduled for this past November. As a result of this, while numerous events have been hosted in it, there has yet to be a full show held in the Principal Black Box in the Kent Center. However, this will all change on Friday.

“Honestly, if you think you’ve seen anything out of the Black Box, you haven’t yet,” Harl said. “It’s something that, with the exception of maybe something at Yell Like Hell, you’ve literally never seen on Simpson’s campus before. It’s going to be a great time; you’re going to get your $3 worth.”