Last Friday, the URI Musician’s Guild along with the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) of URI hosted an open mic night in the Memorial Union courtyard.
Performers signed up beforehand to stand or sit in front of the crowd and perform covers and original songs. There were more than 10 performers throughout the night and every single one of them received thunderous applause after their performances.
YDSA was thinking of a way to raise money for the organization as well for a community fridge in the Memorial Union, according to Matthew Miller, a freshman wildlife and conservation biology major and the vice president of the YDSA.
“We share a lot of people between the organizations,” Miller said. “I think that leftism and punk music and DIY music kind of go together just like the whole aspect of going against the norms and also the status quo.”
Cameron Hart, a senior film and public relations major and the president of the Musician’s Guild, and his brother Kevin Hart, the president of the YDSA, wanted to do an event together.
To organizations and putting this show together, Hart said that the YDSA set up the things they wanted and the Musician’s Guild worked with them to make it a collaborative effort.
“It was pretty similar to all the shows we organize, they just wanted to have a booth set up and we told them that they can have that,” Hart said. “So, we ran it like a normal open-mic but with having a booth where the [YDSA] can promote.”
Miller also spoke on the message of this event and raising money for a community fridge. He said that the musicians guild does a show once a month, and the YDSA wanted to add an extra show in an open space for people to come for free and learn about both groups.
“I think especially because of the pandemic there’s not as much talking on campus about different organizations cause there’s kind of a gap in like there’s not many juniors and sophomores that are as involved in organizations as freshman and seniors,” Miller said.
He said that both groups were hoping to spread information about their organizations and what they do at this event in hopes of recruiting more members.
There were many people performing either solo or in a band and all of them had a lot of energy in their performances. InUsWeMistrust, led by junior Chris Marcoullier was one of the bands that performed. Marcoullier and guest guitarist Nick Pepe said they love performing and will take any chance they get to perform wherever and whenever they can. Marcoullier said that it’s just him now as the band, but he hopes to get more people involved.
In the small courtyard in front of the Memorial Union, there was a small setup of instruments for the performers. There was a keyboard, a drumset, 3 microphones and artists brought their own guitars.
Zoey Cute and Kat Stearley were among those sitting in the crowd listening to the music being performed.
“We were just walking by and we heard it and were like let’s sit down and see what it’s about,” Stearley said. Cute agreed with her and both of them said that they enjoyed the music and having fun.
It seemed that everyone in the crowd was involved with each performance. For the Musician’s Guild and YDSA, the goal of the night was to bring people together to have fun and bond over music, all while raising money to better the community.