The first CoffeeHouse of this school year was held last Friday night in the Sandbar. It featured Dana Cargioli, Hunter Havins, Rmani Crawford, Steph Stamas and Alex Keating (of Lady on the Moon) as well as other student performers.
There was not much room for walking or breathing in the Sandbar that night. The room was full of students trying to call dibs on the couches in front of the stage or trying not to bump into someone in the midst of chairs that filled the room. Students sitting at the computer bar struggled to see over the heads of peers standing in the aisles. Indistinct “could you move or duck down” questions were audible on constant basis. Many of the students who performed are well-known names on campus and drew large crowds of support.
Students surrounded the Crumbs cupcakes before the performance started — leaving only one measly cupcake by 8:15 p.m. There were fewer students actually trying to drink coffee at the CoffeeHouse that one would expect; despite it being Starbucks coffee, it was not a favorite among the crowd.
The first act was Cargioli and her friend. Cargioli’s voice has a soulful quality and the duo’s music was very reminiscent of Mumford and Sons. They combined guitar and ukulele playing to enhance their musical covers. They covered a variety of top 40 hits and actively engaged the audience with their songs.
Hunter Havins followed them up. He had a more indie and upbeat tempo than Cargioli and sang a few original songs. Havins told a story before he started one song that was clearly written to a girl he cared dearly about. He said, “I wrote it about an eighth grade relationship that broke up … called it ‘Leslie’s Song.’ Weeks after writing it, she told me she had been seeing other people while we were dating. I now call this song ‘Three Weeks After I Wrote This Song She Told Me She Was Cheating on Me.’” The crowd found this irony amusing, but was quickly wrapped up into the passion and angst that he seemed to carry through all of his music.
After Havins’ heartfelt piece, he swapped out his guitar for a banjo and bantered with the crowd for a minute. Then he pulled out a harmonica and the crowd (specifically, the male portion) cheered with enthusiasm for the upcoming song. As each act passed, fewer chairs were filled; it seemed that the crowd levels peaked during Havins’ act and people slowly left after.
Havins wasn’t the only performer to have a cute story for the audience. Crawford literally had most of the women in the audience awing and cooing as he played piano and sang a song he wrote. But it wasn’t just any old song — it was a song to his future daughter. After the song finished, he received a partial standing ovation. Crawford’s music was reflective of his gospel choir involvement, yet he retained his own style. It is the kind of music that one would listen to on a rainy day while reflecting on their life. Crawford even helped Stamas with the first song of her set.
As an end to the night, Keating performed for the dedicated students who stayed until the end. Overall, the talent filling the first CoffeeHouse of the year has set a high standard that will be tough to match.