The graduation of Nittany Booking founder and promoter Garrett Bogden will likely cause the loss of an influential component of the State College music scene.
Nittany Booking has come a long way since its first show in 2006, bringing national acts to one of the few downtown all-ages venues: SoZo, 256 Beaver Ave. Now, Bogden (senior-marketing) will leave the company he created with the hope that live music will still carry a strong presence in State College.
"I don't want to see the State College music scene die," he said. "I've worked so hard to get it to where it is."
According to Bogden, Nittany Booking is "pretty much over."
The company will sponsor two more live shows with headliners Punchline on Friday and Straylight Run on May 15. Bogden said he didn't originally plan to do anything after the Punchline show, but the Straylight Run performance was "one of those too good to be true shows."
Upon graduation, Bogden will be moving back to his hometown of Pittsburgh to work for American Eagle Outfitters' corporate office. He said it would be feasible to put on the occasional State College show, but impossible to do them at the same caliber as when he was a student.
"I don't want to put myself through that either," he said. "The only way I would do a show is if I'm sure it would sell out and I don't have to worry about it."
He knows there will still be shows at SoZo, but said all of the really successful shows there have been sponsored by Nittany Booking.
"I don't know what they're going to do," he said.
Will Snyder, manager of SoZo, said the venue will continue working the way it has, even with the loss of Nittany Booking. Still, he said he hopes Bogden will continue to do some production from Pittsburgh.
Snyder wants to continue working with other promoters in town, such as Cherry Darling Productions, The Asylum and Students Organizing the Multiple Arts -- as well as high school bands and other locals.
Though he has worked with multiple agents in town, Snyder said Bogden has been the most successful.
But, Snyder can also see another individual rising up in the future to fill the void left behind by Bodgen's absence.
"I imagine that it will spark again in someone else," he said. "If people want to hear great music, they will provide a way to make that happen."
Though Bogden said he would be willing to help such a person, he "wouldn't trust just anyone" to take over Nittany Booking directly.
Bogden learned a lot holding the position, he added -- especially during the tough times when he balanced concert promoting with schoolwork and being a full-time member of the band Cloverleaf.
The hardest part of promoting in State College is competing with all of the "distractions," Bogden said, adding he has been constantly fighting with big events such as the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon and football weekends.
"It's really hard for me to say no because I want to book everything I get," he said. "I didn't take everything into consideration all of the time."
Bogden recalled occasions when he accidentally booked shows before students moved into the dorms in the summer and during Easter weekend because he wasn't thinking far enough in advance.
"It is probably my biggest weakness," he said.
Although selling out shows is a sign of the company's success, Bogden said his biggest objective has never been to make money. Rather, he enjoys just extending his passion for music and making people happy.
"When I see hundreds of people having a good time and the band is having a good time, it's the coolest thing in the world," he said. "If I wanted to make money, I wouldn't do shows. I'd do something else."
Bogden has one simple piece of advice for how to keep the State College music scene alive.
"Go to shows, for real," he said. "If you want to see more shows happen, you have to go to the shows that are already happening."
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