Forbes shows off new Blackbox

The series offers students from Forbes and the other residential colleges a new social opportunity, Forbes College Council members said.

“I think [the students] are glad they’re finally using the Blackbox for something and that there’s something going on at Forbes on a Friday night,” Forbes College Council film society chair Katie Meidell ’12 said.

Before renovations, which took place over the summer, the Forbes Blackbox theater in the basement of the Main Inn was “decrepit, beaten down and under-used,” Forbes intramurals chair Max Frost ’12 explained.

Though the grand opening was delayed due to mold, forcing the council to search for a new opening act, the council and other students in attendance said they considered the event a success.

“I think it went well,” said Grabowski, who proposed the concert series last spring. “We got amazingly lucky,” he explained, referring to the musicians who performed despite having been booked at the last minute.

“The music was great,” Butler College resident Dana Weinstein ’12 said of Friday’s concert. “It was nice to see someone our age ... and then a more established band.”

Yet attendance at the grand opening was lower than expected, and council members said they aim to draw more students to upcoming events. Roughly 100 students attended Friday’s concert.

Weinstein suggested that the College Council focus more advertising on the bands themselves to attract more students to the concerts. She noted that Tim McGlone and The Turn opened for Coldplay last year.

Many students, however, left after receiving T-shirts. “Some people do that,” Forbes resident Dinora Llanas ’12 said, referring to students who came just for the giveaways. “But the cool kids will stick around.”

A number of students explained that they were not familiar with the details of the event, despite the fliers and an event on Facebook. “I spammed all my ’zees to come,” Forbes RCA Julie Dickerson ’10 said.

Just before the grand opening, many students in the Forbes dining hall said they were unfamiliar with Blackbox and that they doubted that students from other colleges would trek down for it.

Forbes resident Diana Robinson ’12, however, said she thought it would be “pretty raging,” and that students would hear the music and wander in.

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Grabowski said he hopes “to bring as many people as we can from the whole Princeton community.” The council has booked different bands through the third week of February and will provide cheap food from the Forbes Cafe to generate greater interest in the concert series.

Despite the low attendance last weekend, students said they expect things may pick up. “I think when you’re starting any tradition, as more people become aware of it, as it becomes more publicized, turnout always goes up,” Weinstein said.