Final Open Mic of the Semester Closes with Large Turn-out

The final Open Mic Night of the semester was held in Linden Hall last Tuesday and was themed with poetry. This event drew in the largest crowd Open Mic Night has seen all semester and was met with great enthusiasm.

Helping to bring in students was the fact that the event was catered with Chinese food as well as the traditional coffee and cookies that are the usual staple of this event. Settling in the spectators and prospective performers was sophomore Alex Hoteck, the usual MC of this event and those like it. Hoteck performed a few songs with the aid of his keyboard while the rest of the room was busy collecting food.

As with any other Open Mic, the music that is performed is a mix and match of different bands playing together, sometimes impromptu and other times practiced. There is also a pleasant variety in genre of music that is harped; the first group played a tune from “One Direction” which was followed up by another singer covering a song by “The Grateful Dead.” At times, the event is even transformed into karaoke or used as a platform for rappers to rhyme with beats laid under their piece.

As the title of the event suggests, there was some poetry, but mostly the craft of spoken word was enacted. One speaker in particular who is a regular at this function stood out amongst the rest with his impassioned preaching of change that was followed by a smattering of applause.

In a successful series of Open Mic nights, this concluding one was the most popular in terms of attendance and saw a positive ending to what was a very fruitful year for Ramapo’s up-and-coming music scene. It was also an opportunity for student performers to learn about the chance to open for Grammy nominated band Relient K in May with auditions being held soon. 

brocha@ramapo.edu