By: Shane Bagot, Follow South Jersey Community Journalist
GLASSBORO, NJ – Glassboro is home to many local underground venues. Venues that make up an ever-growing community of music fans.
With that growth comes more people who are inspired by other venue managers to take on the venue. The latest of that bunch are Rowan sophomores Genevieve Marchio and Ella Praesel, who are opening their own venue, Twodown.
The two first met in their freshman year while going to shows, learning, exploring, and understanding the Glassboro scene together. It sparked an idea in Marchio’s mind to take the first step into running a venue, acting as a foot in the door for her dream of opening up a venue in Philadelphia in the future.
“Definitely more of a dream for me than anything,” Marchio said. “I’ve always wanted to do this since I was little. One of my dreams is like being in charge of a venue. Having bands come and play, it’s just always been something I’ve wanted to do. Just seeing it all come to life is definitely very rewarding for me.”
Marchio has the ideas, while Praesel knows about logistics. This is their first time doing anything like this. Despite Praesel’s help with booking bands for other venues, and Marchio’s knowledge of recording studios, this is all new ground for them.
They have felt it throughout the process. Marchio noted how overwhelming it has been with all the attention and messages they have been receiving from bands wanting to play at the venue to trying to set up dates and themes. They are deep in the planning process.
Luckily, they have been getting help from other local venues like Fortuo and The Jungle.
“I haven’t taken a ton of influence from them, more like advice and how to run it properly, because the Jungle, they’re very experienced. Same with Fortuo. They’ve been all very nice, helping us with this journey,” said Marchio.
The two have been getting the rundown on important aspects that go into this, like sound setup, good relationships with the neighbors, safety, and expecting the unexpected. Still, they struggle with not being in the house until June and funding it themselves.
They have their focus on standing out from the other venues in the scene, focusing on the community and music. They are also planning on having vendors, a thrift, meals, and even a hairstylist on site.
In addition to all of that, they want to provide a wide range of music. This is due to them and the other housemates all having differing interests in music.
“Genevieve likes hardcore music, and I like riot grrrl, that pop punk sort of thing,” Praesel said. “Other people are very into pop or like rap. I want to have different theme nights where we have different bands who might not be able to play, and rappers come and perform for us that probably wouldn’t be able to perform at different venues that we have at Rowan.”
Safety is another point of importance for the venue. From their experience, there are venues in the scene where they haven’t felt very safe. They do not want to put other people, and especially women, in those same situations.
They already have a safety plan with security in the works, making sure nobody feels unsafe about anybody or anything. Eraesel will also be a registered nurse by December, 2026, to help provide medical assistance if needed.
A lot of people get into this for different reasons. Some with love and passion, while others are aiming for the money and clout it provides. Marchio and Praesel are here for the community and people.
“We just want to create a safe space for women and men to be able to go see live music and just be themselves. We’re here for everyone,” said Marchio.
The venue will be starting up slowly in July before fully opening up in August of 2026, just in time to catch the new semester and students who are looking for a new venue to make memories at.
To follow along with their journey, stay updated with their Instagram by clicking here.
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