Green Key Weekend got off to a rowdy start yesterday evening with a minor motorcycle accident, arrests for underage drinking and drug possession and a performance by The Meters on the porch of Phi Delta Alpha fraternity.
Despite the minor incidents, Coordinator of Student Programs Linda Kennedy called the Meters concert a "great kickoff to Green Key Weekend."
As the warm sun shone down on Webster Avenue, hundreds of people gathered on the lawn and street in front of Phi Delt as well as on the lawns and rooftops of Zeta Psi, Beta Theta Pi, Bones Gate and Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternities to hear the band from New Orleans perform their blend of funk and blues.
As he danced on Phi Delt's lawn, Dave Stack '96 said "The band's great. I'm enjoying the Meters. It's cool, loud, everybody's out here. It's the kind of music I think everybody can enjoy. I'm just sorry I can't be here for the rest of the weekend.""I think the Meters are fantastic. They can get the crowd into it. I know I'm into it right now," said Maura Kelly '96.
"I'm from New Orleans, so I've seen these guys before. I never thought that in my four years here I'd see the Neville brothers and the Meters come to Dartmouth. It's more than a pleasure," said Jim Keating '93.
When asked to describe the concert, Jaya Kaveeshwar '96 said "Great music, great weather, great friends."
Towards the end of the concert, bagels were tossed to the crowd, courtesy of Bagel Basement.
After playing their last song, band member Cyrille Neville thanked the crowd and said "We'll have to come back here again," before snapping a photograph and heading inside Phi Delt.
During the concert, several students played pong on the lawns outside of Beta, Chi Gam and Zete. Several other students were carrying around beer despite a sign that said no alcohol was permitted.
The presence of alcohol did not go by unnoticed. According to a Hanover Police officer John Kapusta, Katherine Lentz, an underage female who is not a Dartmouth student was arrested for the possession of alcohol.
This prompted Kennedy to take the microphone halfway through the concert. In addition to asking that underage people get rid of their alcohol, she asked that everyone clear the street and that no one drink on Phi Delt property or on the street. She said that any 21 year olds who were drinking should do so on the property of the other fraternities.
In an unrelated incident, Kapusta said Jason Koornick was arrested for the possession of a controlled substance.
According to Officer O'Neill of the Hanover Police Department, Justin Nidgion '95 suffered scrapes and minor damage to his motorcycle after falling off while making a right turn with too much acceleration. Nidgion had just purchased the bike yesterday and was learning how to ride it.
The Meters concert was intended to be a non-alcoholic event which Kennedy referred to as a "big change for Phi Delt." The house traditionally held the "Phi Reds" party on Green Key Weekend with a reggae band and a special punch.
According to Kennedy, the Meters concert was Phi Delt's idea. The cost of the band was $9,000, of which about $3,000 was paid by the Programming Board, about $2,000 by Phi Delt themselves and the remainder by nine other CFS organizations and the freshman, sophomore and junior class councils.
Kennedy said this was the only time she can recall a band so expensive playing a free concert at the College.
