Sara Conway

by Sara Conway on May 6, 2021

A Friartown Features Series Recap of Inspiring Guests

by Grace Whitman ’22 A&E Staff

Students all over campus gathered with their roommates to watch Two Friends perform at Providence College’s 2021 Virtual Spring Concert hosted by the Board of Programmers. Getting their start on SoundCloud with their hour-long “Big Bootie Remixes,” Eli Sones and Matthew Halper have become staples in college dorm rooms. Two Friends was supposed to travel to Friartown last spring with Matoma for the annual Spring Concert, but COVID-19 prevented the pair from coming. After this disappointing cancellation, Two Friends created a personalized remix for PC students that included song clips from some of the best new music and oldies but goodies. 

Streamed on Looped, the concert was a great way for students to step away from their busy academic schedules and enjoy the night of April 30. Additionally, students could sign up for a lawn spot to sit on Slavin Lawn and watch a live stream of the concert. Two Friends’ Big Bootie 19 Remix was released to the public on May 3, so the event was a great opportunity for them to promote their newest project.  

Although some students wished the concert was more personalized for PC Students, by including visuals of Friartown rather than generic video clips in their set, Two Friends did throw in plenty of “Go Friars” within their set. 

The concert wrapped up with a question-and-answer session hosted by BOP executive president Kevin Schwalm ’21. When speaking with Schwalm about his experience working with Two Friends, he said, “Through the help of the Office of Student Activities and Cultural Programming and Athletics, it was incredible to be able to program some form of Spring Concert after the Two Friends concert was initially canceled last spring. Two Friends was great to work with, and they were excited to come back to Providence even if it meant a virtual concert. Although the College was not able to come together in person to enjoy the show, I think it is a great way to end the year and give students something fun to do on a Friday night.” 

The Spring Concert was part of a four-part Friartown Features virtual series all hosted by BOP and Providence Athletics. On April 24, Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central and author of Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, the PC class of 2022 common reading book, was interviewed and kicked off the series with a great conversation about race in America. 

Decked out in his Friars hockey jersey, former New England Patriots and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski had a conversation with Brett Rodman ’16P, ’20P, ’25P, and Steve Napolillo. Giving students great advice about how to persevere through the struggles of this year, nobody would expect anything less than high spirits from Gronk.

The third event of the series was a conversation between Serena Williams and Doris Burke ’87, ’92G, ’05Hon. As two incredible women in sports, they had a great conversation about female athletics and Williams’ ventures outside the realm of tennis. 

Although the events were pre-recorded and students were not able to personally interact with the speakers, they all included a Q&A panel discussion with questions sent in from PC students. Overall, all of these events were still able to bring the Friar Family together in spirit even though COVID-19 prevented us from being together physically.