The Israeli hip hop band, Hadag Nachash, jammed out in front of students on The University of Texas South Mall Wednesday night. They were brought to play for the 10th annual Israel Block Party, hosted by Texas Hillel, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel’s Independence.
The band is not only extremely popular among students familiar with Israeli contemporary music but the band also expresses peace through their lyrics. They were quick to note their cause when they began their performance by addressing the Palestinian group silently protesting next to the stage. “We hope peace will fall on Israel tomorrow,” the band’s lead singer said.Not only is this event a great opportunity to see different aspects of Israeli life but also to see a band that is symbolic of this diversity in Israel.It was extremely surprising to me how poor the PR was for this event, especially with this being the 10th time it has been held. They spent hundreds on the booths and thousands to bring Hadag Nachash. Much more money than the people they attracted.
Although it’s evident that the target audience would be fairly limited, there was hardly any awareness of the event within the intended audience. The only visible promotions were on West Campus, Texas Hillel and a facebook group. They should have created a better buzz about the event. Hillel could have gone to the Jewish frats and sororities, sent out facebook messages (rather than only allowing those who knew about the group to get more info), and they could have had an article in the Daily Texan before the event about the band’s stance on Israel and their musical style. I mean come on people, why are you spending that much money for hardly any exposure?
