“After Dark 2014” released its full lineup March 27, giving Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students another event to look forward to amid the Spring Weekend festivities. The After Dark party commences at the end of Friday’s Spring Weekend concert, running from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel.
This year’s lineup includes Vito and Druzzi — DJs for electronic dance group The Rapture — Bixel Boys, the Range (the pseudonym of DJ James Hinton ’10) and Tukker. All the acts are dance music-based, but Olivia Fialkow ’14, one of the event’s coordinators, said this year there will be “different sounds and different (sub)genres.”
A small group of Brown upperclassmen, working under the name “Oberge,” organized the event and brought the acts to Providence. Alex Oberg ’12.5, one of the organizers, described the party as being “by Brown students, for Brown students.” Oberge aims to bring musicians to Providence who may not otherwise have been inclined to perform here. Cheno Pinter ’14, who is a member of Oberge alongside Fialkow and Oberg, explained that these DJs often play venues in nearby New York and Boston, passing right by Providence.
In prior years, Spring Weekend after-parties have been shut down by police, making events complicated and unreliable, Fialkow said. Oberge’s After Dark aims to create a “safe space” where students do not have to “worry about cops” and can “celebrate music and have fun.”
The group hopes to create an event geared toward Brown and RISD students over 18, Oberg said. Lupo’s stood out as an ideal venue for the party based on its expansive size. Oberg said he and his peers hope to open up the event to as many people as possible. Oberge is not affiliated with the Brown Concert Agency and is not formally recognized by Brown as a student group.
The After Dark party sold out entirely last year. The organizers received a lot of positive feedback from students excited about last year’s performance by LCD Soundsystem DJ James Murphy, and as a result, attendees said they eagerly anticipated more events in the future, Fialkow said.
Pinter said she heard fellow students declare After Dark the “best party at Brown” and the “best event yet.”
The group struggled to find artists this year because coordinators had to compete with bookings for the Coachella music festival and European tours, Fialkow said, adding that this year’s lineup is more diverse than the previous year. She said the group is excited to “support Brown (alums), current Brown students (and) artists from Providence.”
Despite having more difficulty finding artists to perform, Oberg said the group “doubled production from last year” and will now be incorporating “light shows and visuals.”
Pinter also said the group is very conscious about feedback and is working to improve with every new concert.
Oberg said the organizers “don’t want to infringe on Spring Weekend turnout,” so tickets are now available via presale in order to avoid a rush of people coming to After Dark early to obtain tickets.
“They put on a great show last year, and we managed to share audiences with few problems,” said Will Peterson ’14, publicity chair for BCA.
Though some of Oberge’s organizers will graduate this spring, they anticipate another show in the fall and hope underclassmen will pick up where they leave off, Fialkow said.
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