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Printer-Friendly ModeSins kick year off with annual Slam
September 10, 2007 —
Students showed their stuff Friday night as Cardinal Sins kicked off the fall semester with Slamoramaglamajama, SVSU's first poetry slam of the year. Live music, an open mic session and a lot of free pizza highlighted the night.
Sins holds a poetry slam once a semester and expects around 100 students to attend.
The event was co-sponsored by Valley Nights, which funded the free food and drinks, paid for the three bands, and hosted an iPod giveaway.
"Valley Nights provided most of the money for this," Christi Griffis, editor-in-chief of Cardinal Sins said. "Sins doesn't have a very big budget.
Saturday Morning TV, a rock band from Saginaw, started the night with their performance. The Black List, another rock band from Detroit, played immediately afterward. The band was excited to play somewhere new and enjoyed SVSU's campus.
"Any time you can play on a college campus is good," Jim Walkup, singer and lead guitarist of The Black List said. "It's always a good turnout."
Following The Black List was the open mic portion of the evening.Roughly 10 to 15 students participated and performed their music and poetry for the crowd.
The poetry slam, which students had to sign up for before the event, had about the same number of participants. Cash prizes of $150, $100, and $50 were awarded to the first, second, and third place winners of the slam.
Unlike last semester, all three winners were SVSU students. Senior Tom Wheatley took third place, senior Colleen Cartwright took second, and freshman Amelia Glebocki finished in first at her first-ever poetry slam at SVSU.
Glebocki said she enjoyed the event and would participate in it again.
"I do it because I like it," she said. "Money was a secondary thing. I really enjoy poetry and I really enjoy performing."
Although Griffis was concerned that the turnout wouldn't be so great due to the fact that Slamoramaglamajama was held on a Friday night instead of a Thursday, many students stuck around until the very end to hear the winners of the slam and to listen to the last band, Appearance and Reality, perform.
Griffis' main concern was how the event would ultimately help out Cardinal Sins, but she and other Sins staff members also focused on making sure everyone had a good time.
"It publicizes Cardinal Sins," she said, "and it's free, it's something to do on a Friday night, and it gives bands a place to play."