2008 Woodie Awards
Open Mic Night eases anxiety
Bands just getting their feet wet have an opportunity to perform at UPB's Open Mic Night
Dana Johnson
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Intermission
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Many were there to support some of their friends take the stage and conquer their stage fright. Other performers were there just to gain experience on the stage.
It was Open Mic Night at the Quarry, and from 7:30 to 10 p.m., young musicians took the stage to showcase their talent.
The University Program Board (UPB) organizes the evening to allow musicians to play their music to a small audience.
It is designed for young performers to feel comfortable on stage without the ridicule of a harsh audience. For many performers, this is exactly what their musical career needs: a little boost over stage fright.
Siamese Tree, a "jam band" of SCSU students, was the last act to perform Monday night, and it was their first show as a group. They have only been playing together for a month and had three songs to perform Monday night.
"I was surprised. It was a good place for a first show. Everybody was kind of chill and the sound was really good," said Icabod Fellagotto, Siamese Tree's drummer.
The group presented stage names to the audience and stayed under those identities for the rest of the night.
Siamese Tree was the only full band to perform that evening.
They felt the show was a good start for them.
"Man, we're just, we're a jam band man. We want people to come and just listen to jam music and hang out," said Dover Clementine, the guitarist of Siamese Tree. "It's kind of good for our first show that not many people turned out, but for future shows we just want people who love jam music to come out."
The group also included Deeps Timil on guitar and Evorg Elpam on bass.
The other acts were a acoustic guitar duo, a solo keyboardist and a solo acoustic guitarist.
Performers are allowed to play 20 minutes or less, and they choose the 20 minute time slot when they sign up.
To sign up, musicians can go to room 118 in Atwood, which is the UPB office, or they can send an e-mail to quarry@stcloudstate.edu.
Performers are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible because it is on a first come, first serve basis. But if performers do so at least a week before Open Mic Night, they will most likely get a slot to perform.
Otherwise performers are allowed to show up the night of and hope a slot is open for them to play.
All material that is performed must abide by the SCSU Code of Conduct.
Open Mic Nights are at least once a month in the Quarry, and UPB tries to conduct them twice a month.
The next show scheduled for Live at the Quarry is at 8 p.m. Dec. 6 featuring Write This Down, Dear Brother and Tomorrow's Forgotten.
For more information about events scheduled in the Quarry visit www.stcloudstate.edu/upb.