2008 Woodie Awards
Underground benefit show raises consciousness, funds
Ben Kelly and Kristie Parmenter
Issue date: 2/25/05 Section: Features
Students crowd the Underground. They sit on tables or lean on the bar next to the Grill. On the stage, four kids dressed like Mods assemble a drum kit and plug guitars into an amp painted with the Union Jack.
The lights dim. The audience stands up.
"We're Starlyn Garvy," the singer announces. "And we're glad to be here!" The band launches into a raucous cover of The Who's "A Quick One".
From 8 p.m. to midnight on Feb. 17, over 100 Guilford students came to the Underground to listen to music, dance, and raise money for the March 19 antiwar protest in Fayetteville, N.C.
Sophomore Adam Waxman, a regular in Guilford's activist community, organized the event. He explained that the show served several purposes.
"It raises money, of course," he said. "It gets people energized. And it brings activism back into the spotlight. It shows that Guilford is an anti-war campus."
Many of the performances literally turned the spotlight on activism. The night's opening act, The Womyn's Circle, focused on singing anti-war songs. The a capella group was at its best when it juxtaposed simple lyrics with complex, layered harmonies.
Freshman William McKinley-Ward led the crowd in a sing-along rendition of Edwin Starr's "War", and the Jazz Ensemble (or Whittaker's Six Peace) played a relaxed, solo-filled set that drew copious applause from the crowd.
Other acts focused less on politics. CCE student Ziggy Johnson performed both original and cover songs on an acoustic guitar. The highlight of his set came when he played the song "Spend the Night with Me", a "feel-good song for the gay community", about the joys of one-night stands.
Sophomore Lisa Jaeggi played an unplugged set of songs she wrote. Her catchy melodies and blues-accented vocals prompted spontaneous whistles and hand claps from the audience.
By the time the night's last act, hard-rocking Guilford band St. Claire, took the stage, the crowd was psyched.
The lights dim. The audience stands up.
"We're Starlyn Garvy," the singer announces. "And we're glad to be here!" The band launches into a raucous cover of The Who's "A Quick One".
From 8 p.m. to midnight on Feb. 17, over 100 Guilford students came to the Underground to listen to music, dance, and raise money for the March 19 antiwar protest in Fayetteville, N.C.
Sophomore Adam Waxman, a regular in Guilford's activist community, organized the event. He explained that the show served several purposes.
"It raises money, of course," he said. "It gets people energized. And it brings activism back into the spotlight. It shows that Guilford is an anti-war campus."
Many of the performances literally turned the spotlight on activism. The night's opening act, The Womyn's Circle, focused on singing anti-war songs. The a capella group was at its best when it juxtaposed simple lyrics with complex, layered harmonies.
Freshman William McKinley-Ward led the crowd in a sing-along rendition of Edwin Starr's "War", and the Jazz Ensemble (or Whittaker's Six Peace) played a relaxed, solo-filled set that drew copious applause from the crowd.
Other acts focused less on politics. CCE student Ziggy Johnson performed both original and cover songs on an acoustic guitar. The highlight of his set came when he played the song "Spend the Night with Me", a "feel-good song for the gay community", about the joys of one-night stands.
Sophomore Lisa Jaeggi played an unplugged set of songs she wrote. Her catchy melodies and blues-accented vocals prompted spontaneous whistles and hand claps from the audience.
By the time the night's last act, hard-rocking Guilford band St. Claire, took the stage, the crowd was psyched.
