If poetry slams and spoken word performances are dead, then we did not get that memo, because we had another packed house at Valentine’s for NGS #28 this past Tuesday. Our featured poets, Meg Waldron and Robyn Bateman, were a fantastic addition to the open mic and poetry slam. Meg and Robyn put on a great show and the audience of poets, friends, and family, were energized and enthusiastic all night.
Daniel Nester posted photos of the event on the NGS Facebook page and we will be posting video very soon.
The open mic saw some new names and returning characters share their words including Matt Galletta, Michael Cruz, Alyssa Niman, Brett Peterson, Lecco Morris, and Jess Listen2MyWordz.
The slam itself was the largest we have held to date. Instead of our usual 8-4-2 we went ahead and let everyone who want to participate get on stage so we had a 15-4-2 with Alex Sherman- Cross, Dylan, Elizag, Poetyc Visionz, Billy, Brandon Williamson, Carlos Garcia, BJ, Alyssa, Avery, Victorio Reyes, Kevin Peterson, Brett Peterson, Lecco Morris, and Mojavi. This gave the crowd a chance to see some of the best poetry and spoken word without leaving anyone out. And by participating, all 15 poets received points and were in the running for the first Semi Final coming up on November 6. The top eight points leaders will battle it out for the first two spots in the Grand Slam in the spring to determine who will be representing NGS at the National Poetry Slam next summer in Boston. We have the points totals for Season Two over on the NGS website.
Here is how the slam scores worked out on Tuesday night.
Round One
Alex Sherman- Cross – 25.3
Dylan – 23.2
Elizag – 28.8
Poetyc Visionz – 25.8
Billy – 25.9
Brandon Williamson – 29.3
Carlos Garcia – 25.5
BJ – 25.2
Alyssa – 25
Avery – 25.5
Victorio Reyes – 25.8
Kevin Peterson – 27.7
Brett Peterson – 24.5
Lecco Morris – 23.9
Mojavi – 25.8
Round Two
Kevin Peterson – 26.1 (Combined 53.8)
Brandon Williamson – 28.7 (Combined 58.0)
Billy – 27.6 (Combined 53.5)
Elizag – 28.0 (Combined 56.8)
Round Three
Brandon Williamson – 28.0
Elizag – 28.9
In the end the returning Elizag came out on top with Brandon Williamson visiting us for the first time from Buffalo coming in second and Kevin Peterson right on their heels in third.
On a side note, Elizag is the only poet in the area who competed at all three of Poetry Slam Inc.’s national events this year. She competed in the spring at the Women of the World slam in Denver, was part of Team Nitty Gritty in Charlotte for the NPS in August, and more recently at the Individual World Poetry Slam in Arkansas. Congratulations to Elizag for competing and representing Albany all over the country.
We now are looking ahead for a special, 5th Tuesday edition of Nitty Gritty Slam as we present the first-ever Inappropriate Slam on Tuesday, October 30. If you have poems that you think will make folks feel a little uneasy and uncomfortable, then this is the slam for you. We will have more information next week.
