Meramec Student Music Club hosts second annual Open Mic Night in Student Center Cafeteria
By: Will Murry
Art & Life Editor
Meramec’s cafeteria was filled with talent on Thursday, Nov. 16 as it set the stage for the Student Music Club’s annual open mic night.
The Stage saw a diverse group of performers from dancers, guitarists and singers to rappers, karaoke and improvisational piano comedy. Students, staff and even parents came out to see performers.
This open mic night was the Music Club’s second time hosting the event. This year’s set-up included a stage, pa system and piano for the performers to take advantage of during their time to shine.
Rapper Che Sanchez, who performed at the event, said being on stage “felt awesome”. Many of his friends and family came to support him and sing along with his original song.
“I’ve played a couple of shows where people knew me and knew my lyrics before, but this is the first time I’ve been able to actually stop singing and had the audience sing my chorus,” said Sanchez. “Having friends here to support and having a friend here recording me in the front was awesome.”
According to Club President Dennis Allen, the overall turnout for open mic night was better than last year. Allen said this may be due to a lack of organization for the previous event.
“We didn’t really know what we were doing, so it was kinda all over the place. To organize this event there’s a lot of stress, a lot of networking, finding the right people to connect with…” said Allen. “To keep your sponsor there and keep in touch with them and campus life, to order catering and to rent out the space, it takes a lot to keep on track…It takes a lot of patience to be as stress free as possible, which is kind of stressful.”
This year’s open mic night was much more organized with a full audience, catering and an open beverage bar staffed exclusively by members of the Music Club for the audience and performers to enjoy as the show went on.
“It really upped the ante on itself and I could not have been more proud of the turnout,” said Allen. “Last fall when we did this it was pretty nice, it was a small get together. Even some of the faculty stayed behind to watch it so it was pretty great, but this year was amazing. We got a lot more people, better food, and better drinks so it was a better turnout for sure,” said Allen.
Andy Haselhorst, improvisational pianist and friend of Allen, said he was proud of the club president for the effort he put into shaping the event.
“[Dennis] has marketed his heart out on this event,” said Haselhorst. “I had fun.”
According to Allen, following the success of the second annual open mic night, the Music Club will host a third event in 2018.
