It was a hot April Tuesday. Hot enough for darker, sweat-strips to show when someone slipped off a backpack. In the slightly-cooled Upper Commons a group of about twenty people gathered to hear the list of musicians scrawled on large sheet of paper hung on the wall. While onlookers awaited a tall, bearded man pieced together microphone cords and connected snaking wires to metal-mesh covered speakers set on the floor.
The first performer, long-haired and in a blue shirt, stepped to the front of the crowd and adjusted one of the two microphones. With the audience quietly waiting he began a self-composed rap titled, “Go to Sleep.” The slow starting music glided from the speakers as the boy nodded in time to the beat. Soon, he began steadily rapping, full words dribbling from his mouth. He finished his song with loud yelling of “Go to sleep!” before leaving the impromptu stage to applause.
In the slight lull between performers many people drifted to a table set with trays of fudge-like brownies topped with thick whipped cream. The treats provided with aplomb by Jill Yacconelli.
As the time passed unrecorded a variety of musical acts stepped to the stage. Next came a girl, dressed simply in a white dress, to play a soft acoustic song. She began rhythmically strumming before her melodic vocals joined in.
The girl stepped off, loud applause followed her. Once she sat down a duo of musicians rose to the stage. One sat with a guitar while the other stood in front of a large drum, both sang. Acoustic guitar strumming and gentle drum beats started the song. The rhythm slowed. Their vocals weaved in and out.
The group of two returned to their seats with more applause and another single performer took to the stage. A girl sifted through her iPod for a moment before rock music began. She moved in place to the melody, rocking back and forth. As she began singing emotionally the music flickered a little due to a faulty connection; however, this did little to disrupt her singing.
Again a pair of musicians came to the front of the crowd. They brought up a single guitar.
It was around this time I managed to get a hold of one of the whipped cream covered brownies. On the spectrum of brownie classification, they definitely leaned strongly towards fudge. Quite heavy for a brownie, the insides were soft and filled with rich chocolate flavors. The whipped cream blanketing the top was a welcome complement to the darker flavors. Due to the richness I only just managed to pile down a single serving. While I was eating, a single girl came to the stage carrying a keyboard nearly her height. Her music began very upbeat. It was some sort of Brit-Pop.
As with the other performers loud applause showered her from the stage. Loud applause in a small space echoes terribly. Then the final open mic of the year came to a close.
