Students flocked to Ida Noyes Hall Friday night to participate in the annual Blues n’ Ribs festival. Free food, loud music, and a blues band attracted a substantial crowd of students to the event sponsored by the student-run organization Council on University Programming (COUP).
COUP is the organization in charge of planning most of the major events on campus including Fall Formal, Afterglow, Kangeiko/Kuvia, Mardi Gras, Sherehe and Summer Breeze.
The blues band Lynne Jordan and the Shivers entertained students as they ate ribs, cornbread, and fried chicken from Barbecue People catering. Along with the tunes of Lynne Jordan, those in attendance had the new choice of going into the Ida Noyes library to hear the music of four local bands.
“We wanted to give these local bands a chance to play. They managed to draw a fairly significant crowd,” said Marina Tong, one of the organizers of the event. “We were pleased with the turnout and enthusiasm of everyone.”
Hyde Park bands ’68 Comeback Special, JR Truckdriver, Drexel, and Millimeters Mercury played to the student crowd. “The bands helped everyone to enjoy themselves by playing some songs we all knew and some that were just fun,” said Jessica Brooks, a first-year in the College.
The addition of local bands was new to the Blues n’ Ribs lineup this year. “The atmosphere was much nicer this year due to the variety of music and settings available,” said Natalie Boittin, a second-year in the College.
“I was glad to see everyone enjoying the food and music so thoroughly,” said Rochelle McCain, a fist-year in the College and one of the COUP volunteers helping at the event.
As an alternative to the music provided on the ground floor there was a DJ on the third floor.
“I danced so much that I barely noticed the four hours pass,” said Joanna Slotkin, a first-year in the College. However, not everyone was as enthusiastic about the event.
“The event was slow to warm up which was partly due to the timidity of the students in attendance,” said Justin Mayer, a first-year in the College.
Though the festival promised free food (and beer for those over 21), the refreshments were in short supply. “There was not nearly enough food, I got there at 10:30 and there was already nothing left,” said Jessica Meyer, a third-year in the College.
“Students turned up earlier to the event than they have in past years,” said Tong in response to this complaint. “Although the event was scheduled to start at 8:30, by that time the Hall was already quite full and consequently the food went very fast.”
