Piled on the concrete steps of Grant High School’s North Forum, students sit amongst their peers, dedicating their lunch to three short sets from bands and musicians consisting entirely of fellow students. Chatter fills the room in anticipation of the upcoming performances.
As the first act is introduced, the room goes quiet, everyone listening intently to the initiation of the event. Gia Roberts walks to the “stage,” a level at the bottom of the room dedicated to the artists. She jumps into her position, contributing a unique short story. Students hang on to every word, until she mutters the last.
Applause queues the next act, a segue into a performance quite the opposite. Rushing down the stairs with a total of three water bottles and a black rabbit mask comes X.P Escobard. They perform an original song, jumping around and traveling up and down the stairs, engaging students by holding the microphone out to the crowd. Students enjoying their lunch in the upper commons peek inside the forum from outside the room. By the end, the entire crowd chants the lyrics in time with the artist.
The audience becomes further immersed in the show as different performers take their turn. As lunch goes on, more and more faces peek through the doorway, intrigued by the music and crowd.
Concluding the Pandemonium Club performances, Pablo Navarro walks in, unfazed. His guitar strap is slung across his shoulder. As he finds his seat and positions himself, another person adjusts his mic, checking that everything is up and running.
Now perched on a wooden stool, legs uncrossed and guitar in hand, Navarro begins. His voice accompanies the stripped-down acoustic guitar, guiding the audience through an original song. He concludes, and from the faces of the viewers, people are hooked. A girl from up above cheers loudly.
He follows this with another acoustic original and another round of applause. His performance sets a tranquil, calm tone for the remainder of the day. As the bell rings, the audience disperses gradually to their third period classes.
Grant’s Pandemonium Club has been thoroughly promoted through posters pasted on walls and pillars around the school, as well as on the official Grant (@usgranthigh) and Pandemonium Club (@pandemonium_ghs) Instagram pages. The open mic on Friday, Dec. 2, was another raging success for the club. All arrangements were organized by Pandemonium Club co-presidents Ava Huffner and Roman Lewis (Lewi).
This is the club’s first year, and the open mics started small. At the beginning of this year, attendance could be counted on two hands.
Since then, engagement has grown rapidly.
Pandemonium Club has organized three open mics so far and has many more planned for the months ahead. As of now, they schedule the open mics at lunch on every A-day Friday. All scheduling is featured on their Instagram. The club plans to continue performances in the North Forum, although some future shows may expand to other locations.
The club’s purpose, according to its leaders, is to uplift talented young artists and give them a space where they can showcase their work in a platform accessible to fellow students. Self-expression plays an important role in the club. Huffner says, “It’s all about giving students a space to express themselves and also giving the students who come to listen a space to feel heard or see different perspectives.”
The artists featured in open mics sign up online or are sought out by club leaders. To sign up, visit the Google Form link in the Pandemonium Club’s Instagram bio.
There is not much that the club would be opposed to shining a light on, with the exception of offensive content. The format for the performances varies, but viewers can expect to see a featured artist along with a couple other small performers during each of the shows.
According to Huffner, most of the performances end up being music related. On Dec. 2, however, the status quo was broken with a personal retelling of Gia Roberts’ mysterious, intriguing short story, “The Empty Guest Room.”
While the musical aspect of the open mics is enticing, Huffner hopes to see more acts that break the mold of what has already been done. She says that she hopes for spoken-word slam poetry and more writing pieces to be featured at future events.
When the weather becomes more tolerable as winter gives way to spring, the club plans to host outdoor performances called “courtyard concerts.” Come January, they plan to feature the musical group “Nothing But Treble.”
With the hit performance early this December, the club has shown their ever-growing potential and only strives to go higher.
When attending events organized by the club, the amount of effort and care that the members put in is evident. It’s reflected in the quality and lineup of performers, as well as the attendance and engagement of students.
The club’s open mics have a variety of appeals, including a place to seek and witness exciting new features, have a platform to share a part of yourself or go to take a break in an inspiring, creative atmosphere.
On Friday, Dec. 16, there was another open mic featuring Luke Hendrickson, Lewis and Hickory McCay. Attendance was almost identical to Dec. 2, if not higher.
Lewis began by playing two songs, strumming his guitar with passion and vigor that caused the room to erupt in sound.
McCay cracked some jokes while waiting for the guitar to be passed and sang a couple of unique songs. Hendrickson, as the headliner, encouraged festivity in the forum as people anticipated the winter break that would begin only a few hours later.
He performed three Christmas songs, including an original, as people clapped in sync to the sound of the beat. He also displayed his ability to play three instruments within his allotted time: upright bass, keyboard and electric bass.
The open mic brought additional success for the Pandemonium Club, with high turnout and unique student features. Performances will resume again in the new year, and Grant students can expect new artists accompanying some returning faces.
