The College Programming Board’s second Open Mic Night of the semester opened to a relaxed crowd Tuesday night in the Linden Coffee House.
Approximately 25 students filled the blue couches and tall tables of the lounge at the start of the show, making room for the 15 performers that entertained throughout the night.
As the signup sheet was passed around the room, student Jon Dare opened the show with two electronic tracks, getting the small crowd dancing in their seats.
Following Dare’s electronic keyboard skills, the show quickly quieted down with two acoustic performances from Ricardo Meadows and Charlie Western. Meadows performed two covers, including his rendition of Go Radio’s “Goodnight Moon.” Western took the opposite approach, making the most of the opportunity to try out two originals from his upcoming album on an intimate crowd.
“Sometimes at Open Mic Night you’re playing to the world, other times you’re playing to nobody, but either way I just love being up there,” said Western.
“I just want to get as much exposure as I can,” Western continued.
The show took a break from music for a short time with a comedy sketch from senior Chris Cortez. His material on the struggles of using Tinder brought out some of the most crowd interaction of the night, as the audience filled the small space with laughter throughout his performance.
As Cortez and background guitarist Pedro Ortiz closed their sketch, the metal window of the coffee stand rose up, revealing coffee, tea and cookies for all. Attendees swarmed the booth, devouring all snacks in a matter of minutes while also enjoying a playlist of pop-punk classics played in between each performer.
This short break ended with another acoustic performance, this time from student Jacob Fishman. No stranger to Open Mic Night, Fishman doubled as both a performer and emcee of the night’s event.
“People want this opportunity to perform so they come out. [Open Mic] is definitely on the upswing,” said Fishman.
While the College Programming Board consistently offers free snacks and has begun implementing theme nights to keep Open Mic Night fresh and bring in more students, some students find themselves coming back to see specific acts.
“Open Mic is a nice place to chill and eat sweets, but I like coming to see all the artists. Roshambo is one of the great ones,” said junior Nicole Wert.
Luckily for Wert and other fans in the crowd, Roshambo took the stage immediately after Fishman, drawing in the biggest crowd of the night. The ‘80s metal-style band was not as rowdy as usual, but their attire was as shiny and sparkly as ever. Students sang along to their bold lyrics that have become well known on campus.
The rest of the night focused solely on musical acts, mostly vocal and acoustic performances. As the night went on, the crowd began to dwindle, but the most loyal fans and friends stuck around to hear the final acts.
Open Mic Night takes a break next week, but Tuesday Night Live will occur in its place, featuring the Ridgewood-based indie band, Prawn.
akrause@ramapo.edu
