Beats and Sounds in the Fireplace Lounge

Fair Trade Coffee, Double Stuf Oreos, and great music drew a crowd to the Fire Place Lounge for Monday’s Open Mic Night. The night began with the rapping and R+B singing of Jerod Kerouac aka J$ (pronounced J – money). Kerouac had been feeling sick on Monday, but, as he explained to the audience, he was blessed with an encouraging vision of Christopher Walken who said, “J$, you have to go out there and do your thing.” Kerouac did just that, laying down a version of “Woop There It Is” complete with some call-and-response audience participation. Kerouac was followed up by Heidi Therrien who read two of her own poems, “Centripetal Edition Report” and “Do,” which aptly conveyed the difficulty of communicating through words and the bleak state of our world. Luiz Pinheiro and Doug Setzler then played some very well harmonized guitar duets, over which Luiz sang lyrics. Next was a complex beat box session by Colby West and Colin Campbell after which Colin and Bill Kolaski demonstrated their free styling skills. They battled it out and called each other out on dressing like a pervert and sucking at Frisbee. It was a friendly bout, after which Bill proclaimed Colin the winner. When the beats stopped thumping, Mike Kim performed some passionate guitar and vocals. His performance included a cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “A Praise Chorus” featuring Sean Duhaime on background vocals. Mike was followed up by Dave Dinn who also sang and played acoustic guitar. He rocked a cover of Eric Clapton’s “Change The World.” Then, Curt Girginoff and Dave Cote, both guitar players, performed a few covers. They played Incubus’ “Pardon Me” and a very bluesy Jimi Hendrix tune. The night closed with guitarist Jessica Janaitis who played one of her own songs, “Long Lost Shadow,” as well as Nora Jones’ “Nightingale” and some older Jewel songs, which was appropriate considering her vocals, matched Jewel’s perfectly.