Lobos Open Mic night is a great place to get an opportunity to perform in front of an audience, to be yourself and just have fun. Laura McLaren, transfer Senior and Business major, experienced her first Open Mic night playing the guitar and singing two of her favorite songs. “It was my first time ever playing guitar in public and it was really good,” McLaren said. “I’ve been practicing a lot since I’ve only been playing for about six months. I would love to play at every Open Mic night and even try learning another instrument,” she said.
Associated Students Productions, or “ASP”, has organized this event for a few years. All students and all talents are welcome and encouraged to have fun and preform. They host Open Mic night all throughout the school year on every third Wednesday of the month from 8 p.m. -10 p.m at Lobos. Sign ups start at 7:30 p.m. that night and are open throughout the event.
From stand up comedy to playing an instrument, you’re given the space to showcase yourself. The night started off with some stand up comedy and was followed by singing and students playing instruments. Many students had performed in the past and a few were newcomers.
The environment in the room was amazing; seeing students enjoying themselves, listening to the performances and eating food with their friends and overall a very positive audience. One student did a stand up comedy bit and used his Mickey Mouse impressions to light up the entire room with laughter.
Noah Bisping, a Senior Marketing major, has been to a couple different Open Mic nights. “Last spring I came and there was a big turn out and a lot of freshman were there. Lobo’s was pretty packed it was hard to even find a seat. I definitely recommend students to come out and take a look, it’s a lot of fun,” Bisping said.
There are some students that have been attending Open Mic night every year of their time at Sonoma State. Grey Todd, Sophomore Computer Science major with a Music minor, always sings and plays his ukulele or guitar. “This would be my sixth performance. Open Mic night is a very safe space and it can be scary but nothing that bad is going to happen. If you love performing than it’s the place to be,” Todd said. Todd’s involvement at Open Mic night has given him the experience to be comfortable in front of an audience and is starting to open doors for him in the music world.
Santiago Galarce, Junior and a Communications major, had never been to an Open Mic night before. He’s attended the Free Bowling Nights that ASP hosts as well and had a great time so he wanted to check it out. “I grabbed a beer and sat down and really enjoyed the different performances.” said Galacre. “Everyone did great and it was cool to see a range of different skills. There was a student that did stand up comedy that I found hilarious. I unquestionably would go again,” he said.
If you’re unsure and nervous about standing in front of an audience but you’re interested, go to an event on Oct. 17.
