Beys said that the Spin Doctors pulled a last-minute coup by raising their price from $1000 to $1200, threatening to cancel the concert if Beys did not pay them.

Beys said that although the band changed the terms of the contract after it was signed, he was stiff-armed into paying them.

The band unexpectedly demanded towels, cigarettes, potato chips, fruit baskets, blank tape cassettes, batteries, dinner and taxi-fare, according to Logan.

Concert a Success

Despite the unanticipated haggling, the backers said the concert was a success.

"It was a relatively inexpensive way for us to throw a very good party," Logan said.

"Since we weren't working on this as a true business venture, we were not concerned with an avalanche of ticket sales, but with getting people we knew would enjoy the Spin Doctors at a very low price," Logan said.

Logan said the backers publicized the concert through "word-of-mouth."

"We relied on 25 people to have a broad enough base of friends to get the word out all over campus," Logan said. "We worked very hard, calling anyone we knew."

Band Met Demand

Beys said he undertook the project to silence those who complained that the council could not bring a band to Harvard.

"My dream was to bring a band to Harvard as a service to the students. I wanted to have a string of three or four little bands by the end of the year."

Beys said he wants to brings three or four more bands to Harvard this semester, such as Blues Traveler and Dryer Brothers.

But he added that in the future he would avoid any personal stake in the outcome.

"It would have nothing to do with my checking account. If I had the time, I would have put the UC's money on the line [for the Spin Doctors concert]," Beys said.