By Alex Palmer
Daily Bruin contributor
[email protected]
Eclectic music, expressive performances and local talent were on
display this weekend, but not just at UCLA’s Spring Sing.
On Sunday night, the Westwood Brewing Company held its biweekly
Open Mic Night, featuring the music of local singers and musicians,
without the pomp and circumstance of UCLA’s annual Spring
Sing talent show.
The event took place in the dimly lit and unassuming second
floor of Westwood Brew Co., a modest venue with brick walls,
couches in one corner of the room and a small stage in another.
Open Mic Night takes place every other Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m.,
is free of charge and open to all ages.
Sunday’s performances included rousing instrumentals,
soulful blues and melancholy ballads from a variety of local
performers, including many UCLA students.
Javier Dunn, a fourth-year English student at UCLA, played a
pair of original subdued acoustic tunes.
“I actually just came down here to drink, but they needed
some people (to perform), so I went up there,” Dunn said.
“They’re really laid back.”
“Laid back” seemed to be the adjective of the night.
Musicians simply signed up to play on a first come, first served
basis and sat in the audience before and after their performances,
cheering and applauding for the other acts.
“You wanna sing? I’ll pull you up here,”
Jennifer McNutt kidded the audience during her bluesy set, which
featured her on vocals, harmonica and guitar.
The casual and impromptu atmosphere of the evening was
epitomized by the trio of UCLA students Scott Sherr, Neil Godbole
and Tony Rozzi, who performed a set of self-described
“acoustic jams” on two guitars and a South African
drum.
Though the three have only been together as a group for four
weeks, their mixture of prearranged as well as improvised
guitar-playing and drumming struck a chord with the audience,
creating a symbiotic energy exchange between the crowd and the
performers.
This casual and fun atmosphere is what the two creators of Open
Mic Night were aiming for when they began it in December of last
year.
Sarah Wallace, a fourth year history student at UCLA, and Laurie
Haines, a UC Santa Barbara graduate, put together Open Mic Night
out of a mutual interest in music and a concern over the limited
options available to Los Angeles musicians.
“There’s really no open mic shows like this in
L.A.,” Haines said. “They all have huge lines and play
favorites with the musicians … we wanted something that’s
not pretentious, that gives people equal opportunities.”
Both Haines and Wallace are musicians themselves, which
contributed to their efforts in creating a more casual
ambiance.
“I had never done an open mic night before this,”
Wallace said. “I feel like there’s people that
would’ve been scared to perform somewhere else, but feel OK
here.”
The audience, comprised mostly of UCLA students, was
instrumental in creating the night’s comfortable
atmosphere.
Though there were only a few spectators early in the evening, 45
minutes into the show it became hard to find a chair to sit in.
“It’s good to come out to hear student music, to
show support,” said audience member Tyrus Park, a UCLA
student.
This support was felt by the performers.
“Everybody’s interested in hearing your music
here,” McNutt said. “It feels really good.”
Dunn, who performed at Spring Sing as well as Open Mic Night,
also had positive sentiments about the relaxed mood of Sunday
night.
“With Spring Sing, there was a lot of fun, but a lot of
lameness too,” Dunn said, “Here it’s just people
having a good time.”