among friends

After countless hours of preparation, Jane and I finally had our karaoke party Saturday night. At 9:15 there was one small huddle of people in the center of Lunt basement; we were nervous that not enough people would come or want to sing. We need not have worried.

By 9:45, Lunt was filling up; we played a clip of Nao singing Hero, and our mashup performers took the stage. They were fantastic. Meanwhile, we were overwhelmed with requests to sing karaoke. Our biggest problem was too many people wanting to go.

Jonah Loeb and Mike Gelberg got "Hot in Here." And I guess Zach Weiss was a surprise ghostbuster (the song playing in the background of James's mashup)?

Jonah and his friend Didem had signed up for “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson, but it was the only song Mike Lipsitz, Fossi and the Lloyd 70s guys could agree on. In a great moment of compromise (Haverford style), the two groups agreed to sing it together. The audience cheered.

Genna Cherichello and her cohorts waited not-so-patiently to sing “Umbrella” by Rihanna, starting to chant the chorus every time a new performer went up. When it was finally their turn, they rushed onstage and sang their hearts out. People kept going up and joining them to the point that there were as many people onstage as in the audience.

Everyone was singing and dancing together, to the words, “Umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh.” Therisson screamed, “This is bigger than Punk or Prep [the dance at the squash courts]!” The Haverford inner-rock star was released. For a night we were, as the poster Jane created said (stolen and reformatted from a Carnival Cruise ad at the R100 station), “Karaoke Gods.”

Jane and I think we have tapped into a desire that has been pent up. We get to see Indie bands synthesize their sounds at Lunt every other weekend, but when do we ever get to sing, and sing the songs we like? Sam Kaplan said he is planning to host another karaoke party in April. We hope that karaoke turns into a regular tradition. We’ll sure go to the parties.