The first Stein Night of the semester, held on Feb. 1, garnered a lot of attention for its performers. WBRS: Student Music is a remarkable community that fosters creative musical talents and definitely put on a show that placed listeners on the spectrum of comfort or hypeness. The first performers were a jazz band: The dreamy, colorful trio enacted a calm transition from the normally noisy talking at the Stein into respectful quiet for the performances. 

Jordan Mudd ’20 then went on to perform Amos Lee’s “Love A Lot” on his own. Playing on the keyboard, he sang with his mellow, enchanting voice that pulled in the attention from listener. This could be attributed to the balance between the piano and the voice because his voice was clear, but not uncomfortably loud, as was the piano. Next, he sang John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy,” and although it is a sad song, Mudd didn’t bring down the mood. Appreciation radiated through the room as if everyone could understand and connect on some level of reflecting on the past or on a loved one.

The third performer of the night, Eli Kengmana ’19, wooed everyone with his guitar. I’ve never seen anyone play the guitar like him; he included sounds like drum beats and a bass line somehow, using just one guitar. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought someone was playing the bass and drums with him onstage. 

Right after Kengmana, Leah Sagan-Dworsky ’21 came onto the scene as she led the vocals for her unnamed band. There was a progressive element to her music and Leah’s dynamic voice could do by producing a sort of echoing feedback pattern. In contrast to Sagan-Dworsky’s band’s sense of wam togetherness, Carl Warmuth ’21 followed with angsty rock vocals and electric guitar. As soon as he started performing, everyone turned to look at who was screaming into the microphone. He brought a chaotic energy as everyone watched him, lightly headbanging — I know I did. 

As one of the final performers of the night, Ashley Kamal ’22 helped settle everyone back down. She was able to get the whole crowd to sing along to “If I Can’t Have You” by Alicia Keys. There was a feeling of unity, and if there’s one thing that performers need to be successful, it is to get their crowd on the same page. 

All in all, attending this Stein Night with my friends was a rewarding experience. Not only did we get to enjoy good food, each other’s company and the social atmosphere, but we also got to experience talented performers expressing many of the wholesome feelings that were floating around the room. If the amount of talent and work put into this first Stein Night indicates how well the rest of the upcoming shows will go, audiences will certainly not be disappointed.