On behalf of NIU students, the Northern Star editorial board would like to thank you for visiting the Convocation Center, one of the Midwest’s foremost practicing facilities for big-time rock bands looking to stay sharp while on tour.

We really do hope your upcoming national tour – including shows in nearby Milwaukee and Chicago – is a smashing success. It will give us students great pride to know we played such a crucial part in your success at thoroughly entertaining fans across the U.S.

Nevermind that not one NIU student saw you play — practice or otherwise — or that many students never even knew you were using the fine facilities our hefty tuition payments support year after year.

And nevermind that the last show NIU students had the opportunity to enjoy at the Convocation Center happened was a band — Casting Crowns — that most students have never even heard of, or that the two shows prior to that were NIU’s Marching Band and Sesame Street.

What counts is that your upcoming shows in Chicago and other cities go as well as they possibly can for the devoted fans who had the opportunity to buy tickets to your shows. Honestly, most people probably understand that you were too busy practicing and being rock ’n’ rollers to put on a show for a bunch of college students.

I mean, it’s probably a lot of work to bring a band to DeKalb and sell tickets to a show. Wait, since you were already here to practice, it really wouldn’t be that hard to sell tickets to the captive student audience at NIU.

Nevermind that, though. It’s not like we’re starved for big-time musicians to play at the Convo like they once did. Wait, it’s actually exactly like that and this could have been a huge show that tons of people in the NIU and DeKalb communities would have gladly paid money for.

Oh, well. Maybe it’s just too much to ask of a band such as Bon Jovi — already in DeKalb using our fine music venue — to grace our community with just one show. You could even technically have considered it a final dress rehearsal of sorts, and people would have paid to attend. But if money doesn’t speak, then nothing speaks.

Again, best wishes on the rest of your national tour — we’ll always remember the time Bon Jovi practiced on our very own campus. After all, it’s almost as big a deal as when Big Bird and the Sesame Street gang entertained children in the Convo last November.

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