Photo by Pauline Park
Approximately 15 bands and solo artists took the stage on Tuesday at Open Mic Night, hosted in Linden Hall’s Coffeehouse. Sophomores Jacob Fishman and Carlie Viemann ran the event, along with other members of the College Programming Board.
The CPB held a raffle for the 50 students in attendance, giving away two T-shirts, a $15 gift card and a poster. They also provided hot chocolate and apple turnovers.
Sophomore Blair Nulk, who performs under the stage name Lita London, belted out two KISS songs, including the hit “Calling Dr. Love.” Nulk is a frequent attendee and performer at Open Mic Night. She enjoys the atmosphere and listening to other artists share their talents.
“I like Roshambo, they’re pretty fun. Ricardo’s performance was very nice too. It was soft and emotional, and then Roshambo is easy to listen to casually,” Nulk said after watching a handful of performances.
Glam metal band, “Roshambo,” brought the crowd to their feet and incited laughter following their performances of “Road Head” and “Beat the Meat.” Other crowd-pleasing performances included freestylers Polo Poltergeist and Mr. Maze, Swag and J Breezy and rock band “Skyline Drive.”
“I think open mic nights are probably one of the best events here at Ramapo,” said freshman Ricardo Meadows, who performed earlier in the night.
Meadows continued, “you get to see so many acts go on, and you get to see the talent around campus, and as a music major it’s really exciting to be around a lot of really good and talented artists.”
Like many other performers, junior Keivon Hemmings believes Open Mic Night is a great opportunity and platform for artists to showcase their talents, whatever they may be.
Hemmings also offered a suggestion for Open Mic Night: as a musician himself, he would like to see more genres highlighted to bring in a more diverse crowd of music lovers.
“There’s one major genre always being shown at open mic and it always emphasizes one type of audience. I think at least once, they should do an open mic that only focuses on a couple of genres,” Hemmings said.
“I would like to see more hip-hop, not just because I’m a hip-hop artist, but because I like hip-hop and it’s pretty popular. I think it would be good to bring hip-hop and maybe some R&B, maybe even some soul,” Hemmings continued.
The CPB will be hosting a special Thursday Night Live at 10 p.m. in Friends Hall. The event will feature the student band “Ambary Lake” and the rock/alternative band “A Will Away.”
hpatti@ramapo.edu
