Open Mic Night in the Encore of the Dreyfus University Center on Nov. 5, 2015, was an amazing event. Each performer did amazing in their eight-minute slots, and there wasn’t a single dull moment throughout the duration of the Centertainment-ran event. The night was filled with music, poetry and stand up comedy and provided an electric atmosphere.
The hip-hop performances brought forth a ton of energy. The first music performance by Phil (L8ye) started a little late due to technical difficulties. As soon as the problems were fixed the rapper from Milwaukee went on with his performance. L8ye was forced to rap his first song, “Still Here” without a beat because of technical issues. Wanting to really channel the energy of the crowd he ask all of the people in the audience to stand up and go near the stage. Saying the crowd was excited would be an understatement. After L8ye started his verse the audience started to clap in unison, making their own beat to match this introspective song. The second song of his performance had a wavy, chill instrumental to it. Feeling the need to get the audience involved in his performance he proceeded to teach the crowd a chorus to his song “No Games,” allowing them to actually sing this part of the song when it came up and holding the microphone to them so everyone could be heard.
JV Harris, another rapper from Milwaukee certainly catered to the crowd. Before starting his set of songs telling the audience that they are welcome to stand up and dance,several people proceeded to do so. JV probably performed the two most relatable songs of the night. Opening up with a reflective song “The Cost Of Being Real” that is about maturity, self accommodation and losing friends to name a few topics. Closing his set with “R.O.D (Ride or Die),” this song about a break up with a strong instrumental and a catchy chorus had the crowd out of their seats.
Kevin, rapper from the Maryland some how managed to squeeze four songs into a small eight-minute slot. If one word could describe Kevin’s performance it would be “CONFIDENCE.” Asking for his music to be played right away, he started his set strong and with flair. After his first song “Prolouge,” the DMV lyricist went on to to perform three more songs. The crowd embraced the artist and at the end of his performance posed for pictures on stage.
The poetry of the night was strong. Seth Beaty was one of the standout poets and recited two poems that brought a lot of food for thought. The two poems don’t have official titles, but they can be described as very deep. The first poem was about white privilege and how people handle it. Also calling for a better future. The second piece had a theme of racism. Seth added lines about Ferguson and Trayvon Martin. It seems like in society, traumatic things happen, the trauma gets covered in the media for a while then fades and never comes back. Silence doesn’t help fight injustice and both poems depicted it. Giving all something to think about, Seth’s last line of the night was, “And the media talks about all this black on black violence, but all I really hear is white on white silence.”
This was the first performance for a couple of the performers; Khiera Almanza was one of the people having their debut performance. She is a singer that sung all three of her songs acapella and it really showcased her vibrant voice. Khiera started her set with a cover of “Put Your Records On” by Corrine Bailey Rae. The crowd was very engaged with the performance and simultaneously clapped along with her singing in rhythm. The next song that was sung was “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. After struggling with a few lines she stopped and said, “You know what, forget it. I’ll just do the last song.” The audience, being positive yelled encouraging things and willed her to finish this song. The last song of her set was the theme song from the children’s show Arthur. This was clearly the fans favorite because nearly everyone in the crowd sung along with Khiera, ending things on a fun-vibed high note.
There were only two comedians and they both made the crowd laugh hysterically. The first comedian was Steven and he made jokes about car stickers, while the second comedian name, AJ, works with children a lot and the joke that got the biggest response from the audience was about kids with outrageous names
Open Mic night got through all of its performances a little early so they had time for a person to come on stage for a performance that was not signed up. That person was Jacob Ramsey. Saying before he started his performance that he will use the time to try out brand new music. He performed two songs with his guitar. His second song was titled after his roommate and was filled with a bunch of tempo changes. His transitions between all the tempos were smooth.
It looks like we are in for many treats from these upcoming artists going to school at UW-Stevens Point. All of the people who performed at Open Mic Night were not mentioned, but they all did a terrific job. Open Mic Night is usually every first and third Monday of the month if anyone is interested in going to any Open Mic Nights or performing in any. The sign up sheet will be in the Brewhaus (at the basement of the DUC) all day of every Monday that the event will occur.
Stay tuned,
Alex
Alex Grant is a first-year physical education and communication student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.