The Night Owl Café at Keene State was filled with music and cheering Saturday night as students gathered for Karaoke Night. The event began at 7:30 p.m., and by the time it started, every seat in the café was filled. Students came together to sing, watch their friends perform and enjoy a night away from their usual schoolwork.
The event featured a wide variety of music, giving students the opportunity to perform songs from many different artists and movies ranging from Bruno Mars to Descendants to Frank Sinatra.
“I thought the event was really nice, it was fun to hear some songs from my childhood instead of all the mainstream songs we hear on the radio today,” said first-year Shea Tully.
Some songs were familiar to the crowd, while others were less recognizable. Regardless of whether people knew the song, the audience continued to cheer and clap for the performers.
The crowd remained lively throughout the night. Rather than focusing on how well someone could sing, students seemed more interested in encouraging the person on stage.
“It was so much fun,” said first-year Antione Sheppard, who performed at the event. “The crowd had the best energy that even if you go up to start, you didn’t feel nervous because of how supportive and invested the crowd was of your song choice.”
First-year Layna Carrier said she appreciated that students attending Karaoke Night appeared more willing to try different things and support people with different interests and personalities.
“I loved how in high school if you sang a Descendants song at a school karaoke people might give you weird looks, but at this karaoke, people were singing along, clapping, cheering,” she said. “It felt like everyone was just there to have a good time.”
Students who attended said that karaoke night was more than just an opportunity to sing, and that it created a space where students could be themselves, enjoy different types of music and support one another.
“It was a fun new experience to divert from the calm that is usually around the Night Owl Café to an excited happy community of adults just enjoying themselves,” said first-year Aiden Saball.
Anna Kinnon can be contacted at
anna.kinnon@keene.edu
