Open Mic Night delivers an entertaining, but long show
After 30 minutes of chatter, and with half the auditorium filled, the lights finally dimmed and the audience roared. Open Mic night finally began its long show.
On March 26, the annual Open Mic Night brought laughter and excitement to students and parents. This year, seniors Chris O’Leary and Will Amoura hosted the night with a series of “improvised” dialogue that were cheesy, but the audience did not care.
The first half of the night started off in the direction of acoustics and vocals by freshmen Kaile Haynes and Saee Bhide who put on an acoustic performance of Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” and Colbie Calliat’s “Fallin’ For You” that had the crowd roaring. The slow pace songs of Taylor Swift and Colbie Calliat slowly transitioned into more upbeat acts, such as junior Samuel Young and sophomore Aaron Ho’s beatboxing and acoustic number and an MVSNL skit, “Girlfriends”, which is about the different voices people use when they are on the phone. The audience burst into laughter and enthusiasm as those various voices became all-too-familiar.
The light and mellow ambiance of the performances successfully built up to the high energy of the bands and a fencing duel performed in the second half of the show. Mr. Barcellos and Band started the last half of the show with a Dave Carter song. Although it was an oldie, the vibrant beat and vocals still connected with the students. The difference in years did not stop the audience from clapping along and waving their arms from side to side.
The next act a showdown between a student and a teacher. Junior Daniel Ki and math teacher Jon Stark butted heads over a test grade and turned the conflict into a fencing match. This performance was as outstanding as it was unique. It relieved the audience from all the singing and guitar strumming. It didn’t matter that no one in the audience understood fencing and how to keep score. The fight relieved the audiences ears and pumped up the adrenaline.
Four more bands played afterwards, ending with Bigger Than Giants. Each played two or three songs, and truthfully, it could not have been any longer. It felt as though the show could have ended smoothly with Crash on Garage, after Brown Sound. It had already been running for two hours and, although each band had a distinct style, the songs each band played were very similar to the others they played that night. Not to mention the screaming of Brown Sound put some of the audience in distress (some of the parents actually had to leave the auditorium). It did not help that the second song Brown Sound played was not pleasing as well. The mix of “California Love” by 2Pac and screamo did not blend together too well.
Crash on Garage Door, HABOO and Bigger Than Giants played songs, like Justin Bieber’s “Baby”, Jay Sean’s “Down” and The Darkness’s “Growing on Me”, that lightened up the ambiance of the room. Each band lacked variety in song choices, so each began to sound like they were playing 12 minutes of one repetitive song, and the show began to drag on and on.
Open Mic Night received enthusiasm from its audience, but it lacked in variety of acts and was long on time. Half the time could have done it justice. But after three long hours, the lights finally dimmed and the audience clapped. The audience that filled up only half the auditorium is really only those who have time to spare on bands, bands and bands.
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