KPOET Celebrates All The Boos
It began, as many things do, with a declaration of love.
“You were made in a lab,” Darron Peltekian — the boyfriend of KPOET Radio’s co-manager Paige Meyer-Draffen (PMD) — recited, “and I was built in a forge.” Met with love-sick coos and raucous applause for the happy couple, KPOET’s Haunted Valentine Open Mic began with that romantic spark igniting in the air.
Club 88 was decked out in the nostalgic-driven alternative style that this year’s KPOET team has become known for, with a lovey-dovey flair to set it apart from what they’ve done previously. Purple and black streamers hung from the entrance, greeting guests as they entered. Against one wall was a pink and black kissing booth for guests and couples to post in front of. A craft table of classic monstrous images saying cheesy Valentine’s slogans stood guard at the back end of Club 88 whilst a battalion of edgy Sanrio characters defended the stage. Halloween decorations — black cobwebs and hanging ghosts — were recycled for the event with red paper hearts taped all over for the romantic effect.
Once the cheering subsided, Peltekian graciously introduced the next performer: second-year Evan Josten. With his mottled, hot pink electric guitar and ’70s rock star swagger, Josten — after noting that his guitar had been twice-tuned — stunned the audience with a moody rendition of the Foo Fighters’ “Everlong.”
Although the twice-tuned guitar drowned out his vocals, Josten’s performance was the energizing precursor to his impromptu karaoke performance of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s “Leave the Door Open,” which he sang with KPOET broadcaster and fourth-year Sean Frank. But they weren’t the only (nor the first) to storm the karaoke stage. Frank was joined by KPOET co-Manager Emily Perez-Medina for “Airplanes” by B.o.B., featuring Hayley Williams, following a spirited rendition of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” by third-year Sara Martinez and fourth-year Sarah Licon. Licon returned to the stage later on with third-year Jonathan Bermudez for a passionate cover of Weezer’s “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here.” It ended with Bermudez confidently declaring, “You’ve been Weezed!” which was met with audience delight.
The karaoke, however, was simply a way to pass the time until the next scheduled performer — class of 2023 alumna Hailey Garcia — arrived on the scene with her crew, wearing Shy Guy masks. Despite the clear nerves, through tears and shaky breaths, Garcia powered through two poems — “‘love’” and “love” — bravely revealing the trauma and insecurities she has faced — and is still facing — thus far. The vulnerability Garcia shared in the sister poems cast a spell of silence over the audience as everyone listened intently.
This silence carried over into the next performance. Garcia’s boyfriend, Christian, of the band Anshin — who had performed at a previous open mic back in April 2023 — took the stage with his hot rod red electric guitar and Shy Guy mask secured over his face. After a strong rendition of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight,” Christian was joined by his friend Atticus for an unrehearsed yet incredible cover of Radiohead’s “No Surprises.” Atticus took the lead vocals whilst Christian stepped back and deftly fingered the guitar.
As the KPOET team set the stage for the following performance, Perez-Medina commandeered the mic to promote the College’s award-winning art and literary magazine, The Greenleaf Review, which is now accepting submissions until Mar. 22.
Soon after, PMD reclaimed the mic to introduce fourth-year Ezdras Meraz-Lerman, who, as PMD put it, is “gonna tickle that ivory.” And tickle he did, powering through John Legend’s “All of Me” in spite of the broken piano key. Meraz-Lerman took the missteps lightly, however, cracking jokes in between lyrics.
His third song — ”Love of My Life” by Dave Matthew and Santana — had him relocating off-stage. Seated in an armchair with his acoustic guitar in his lap and fake candles surrounding him, Meraz-Lerman serenaded a veritably packed room as guests trickled in through the open door from the Campus Inn to see what all of the commotion was about. Despite the enlarged crowd, Meraz-Lerman’s closing performance was intimate.
Finally, Atticus surprised the crowd by returning for an unexpected, unscheduled performance on the aforementioned broken piano. After a pretty good cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” he closed out the night with a series of songs by The Smiths — “Heavenly Way to Die” and “I Won’t Share You” — and “If You Leave” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the audience singing along the whole time.
KPOET will be hosting another open mic night in honor of Women’s History Month on Mar. 7. To keep up-to-date on future events by KPOET, you can find them on Instagram at kpoetradio.
Photo courtesy of Meylina Tran / Quaker Campus
