On Friday night, over 250 students and community members made their way to The Strand Ballroom and Theatre to attend a student-organized benefit concert in support of the Brown Loves Providence campaign.
All proceeds from ticket sales — priced at $15 — would go to the initiative, according to event organizers. The campaign, which is part of the Brown Ever True initiative, is a campuswide effort to express gratitude for aid provided by the Providence community in the wake of the Dec. 13 mass shooting.
Though donations are still being collected, organizer Theo Coben ’28 estimated that the event raised around $20,000. He added that a group of alums had agreed to match the event’s proceeds, up to $30,000.
The Strand’s owner waived the venue’s rental fee, Coben said.
The emcees pictured organized and facilitated the event.
The concert spanned several hours and opened with a set from Allen “DJ Lefty” Pires — who works in the Engineering Research Center cafe. Pires was followed by student musician Wil Rowland ’26, who was backed up by Kate Javerbaum ’26 and JD Gorman ’26 on vocals, bass and bouzouki, a Greek string instrument.
The evening also saw performances from Tabatha Rose ’25, student band Island Rovers and the Jabberwocks, a campus acapella group. The final act of the night was student musician Daiela Simon-Seay ’26 and her bandmates. When planning the event, Coben noted student performers took “no convincing” to participate.
This marks the second time Coben has used music to bring hope to the Brown community after Dec. 13. On the second day of the spring semester, several student performers organized a smaller benefit concert at downtown Providence venue AS220, he said. Proceeds from that event were donated to a mutual aid fund for workers impacted by the shooting.
Coben was inspired “seeing how much that brought joy to people and helped people start the semester off in a really reflective and optimistic way.” He wondered, “How could we make this bigger?”
On Friday, the emcees read out grateful messages to businesses and individuals in Providence that attendees had submitted before the show. Recipients ranged from Brown dining hall staff to strangers who helped students in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
During the show, Coben also announced that City Councilor John Goncalves ’13 MA’15 (Ward 1) — who was in attendance at the concert — had helped obtain City of Providence Official Citations recognizing the aid provided by submitted individuals and businesses in the local community.
“I want this event to bring every corner of the city together — students, faculty, staff, people who aren’t affiliated with Brown,” Coben told The Herald.
Trader Joe’s employees showed up in support of the cause.
The Island Rovers, a band composed of three Brown students, performed a combination of covers and original music. The trio ended their set with “Blue Love,” an emotionally charged single written about the Dec. 13 shooting.
“Love is something we can choose,” Island Rovers member Ava Fong ’27 sang, inviting audience members to join her.
In a pre-concert interview, Island Rovers member Minne Hatchuel ’27 said when the group performed “Blue Love” at the first benefit concert, “everyone went quiet, and it was just beautiful.”
“I think a lot of (student musicians) wrote about what happened in December,” Hatchuel said. “It kind of feels like a full circle moment to be able to perform these songs and all come together.”
Coben worked with No Empty Seats — a nonprofit founded by Michael OuYang ’26 to raise awareness about mental health and fund suicide prevention measures — to host the event. “For the last few weeks,” Coben said, organizers have “given everything to this.”
“It snowballed into something a lot bigger than I ever expected,” he added.
The Jabberwocks, wearing different shades of Brown, were the third performers of the night.
While advertising the event in local businesses, Coben had the chance to speak to small business owners in the surrounding area. Speaking to them, he realized that “as much as this is a Brown tragedy, this is also a Providence tragedy.”
In an interview after the concert, attendee Kimmy Vu-Smith ’25 said that the event was “such a nice way to honor the community that held us so closely during a time of turmoil.”
“It was both a fun event, but also felt very meaningful,” Vu-Smith noted. “We need a little dancing and music.”
“I’m really hoping that this is the start of something, as opposed to the finale,” Coben said.
Annika Singh is The Herald’s tech chief and a metro editor from Singapore. She covers crime, justice and local politics, but mainly she stands in line for coffee and looks up answers every time she attempts a crossword.
