Open Mic Night...More like No Show Night

                An Open Mic Night at 7:00pm on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 was held at Mellow Moose. Usually when it's a night like this, there are people open to performing. Paul Lehmann, Director of Student Activities, was on the microphone talking to everyone in the audience. When I mean everyone, I am referring to the 15 people present. Almost an hour passes by and no one shows up...
                Pedro Gonzalez saves the night with his two opening poems. Gonzalez is a member of the poetry organization, Open Moments. Even though, he barely saved the night. There was still not much of anyone there to listen to these heartfelt poems. Sammy "Samson" Maldonado enters Mellow Moose with 4 other Open Moments members. He immediately jumps on the stage to perform his poem called Mutation. "I'm a chemically combined mixed with poetry and passion," he exclaims. "I am an abstract thought never to be defined."

 

             The audience remained fairly small, but small groups of people continued to come in. The poets' energy and enjoyment within their own poems brought out excitement within everyone else. Other poets were Yahsokere Williams and Zuri Nicole, who read her poem, Eviction Notice. Poet Jasmine Cordew read her poem, Cream. She spoke in the third person as if she was money. "In all cases, I'm the answer and the question," she said. These poets continued to express their feelings regardless of the audience.

              Akilah Matthews took everyone by storm including the other poets. She read her new poem, Autobiography. "These boots are made for walking not over your back but your heart," she exclaimed. Her passion and emphasis on the person she is became absolutely breathtaking. 

 

 

                Even before I wrote this article, I know the readers were wondering "What Open Mic Night is this?" I was wondering the same exact thing before 5:30p.m. on Tuesday. There were no advertisements with flyers, the daysheet or the radio station. I didn't have to wonder why it turned into a No Show Night or a practice session for Open Moments. People barely knew of the event. We all complain about Utica College is boring, but what are really doing to make it exciting? Could it be that in actuality we are making it "boring." Maybe there are plenty of other events like Open Mic Night, which no one knew about. On the other hand, the people throwing the event may not do enough to inform others. Either way it's us, the students, who make the school what it is. So stop complaining and start promoting your event better. Or else it will be a bunch of empty chairs like No Show Night.