By Jesse Seidel, edited by Courtney Semoff
I recently had the pleasure of attending one of Hudson River Coffee House’s weekly open mic nights, hosted by Tony Leonardi. It usually starts at eight, however this week it started a bit early as students from the College of Saint Rose had the opportunity of participating for their midterm grade. As such, I missed the first few, but my experience at the open mic started with Alphonse who read the poem “Impure Form”, this poem was about cultural pride and appreciating ones race and heritage.
The event proper proceeded as follows:
- A jazzy musical number from the Hudson Coffee House Jazz band.
- The comedy stylings of Jerry Dymond.
- A ukulele performance by Julia.
- Matt Toledo with stand up comedy.
- Ed who did more in-depth comedy such as parodying old sea shanties and performed ‘Flamingo Dancing’ which involved a literal dance with an inflatable flamingo.
- Then the Russo Brothers and Madison performed some music for us and was followed by Joseph who had more of an indie, soulful feel than the jazz that had permeated the evening.
- To conclude was Sam Seuss who read “On Eggshells I Dance” a piece about struggling with mental illness and eventual recovery.
Unfortunately, the open mic was tragically cut short as the microphone and other electronics stopped working. However, despite this setback, the Hudson River Coffee House is definitely a place I would visit again. The ambiance was fantastic, the people that work there were friendly, and its accessibility by bus made it all the more appealing.
