By Alec Hill
Executive Staff
On Saturday, November 9, the Green House hosted what was, according to Masters of Ceremony Frank Hand (C’13) and Wolfgang Boehm (C’13), the 115th edition of Arm and Trout. The annual open-mic night featured musicians, singers, storytellers, and poets, performing in front of an audience that reached 60 members at times over the course of the roughly 4 hour event, all packed into the House’s living room.
Sitting on chairs, couches, pillows, and laps, those assembled were first treated to an original ballad by Saunders Drukker (C’17), in which the audience was asked to join in at one point by “screaming like you’re being eaten by a whale,” a request that fit in well with the song’s subject – the story of a mariner’s revenge.
Drukker’s 10-minute act was followed by, among many others: several original compositions from Frank Hand himself; Mountaintop Musicians President Joey Mooradian (C’15), John Cochran (C’15) and Abbey Moore (C’16) who also joined with Becca Hannigan (C’16) and Jessie Hook (C’17) for a cover of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness”; Sabol Rogers’ (C’16) poignant recitations of several poems by spoken-word artist Anis Mojgani; and a pairs of covers of Wilco and Buffalo Springfield songs by James CarMichael (C’15).
At the very end of the evening, co-hosts Wolfgang and Frank offered their own tribute to the late Lou Reed, former front-man of the Velvet Underground and rock and roll titan, in the form of a rendition of his song “Heroin.”
After the event, those who remained until the end joined in on performances of the Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” and several other sing-along jams.
It should be noted that the event was amply stocked in the food department by delicious quesadillas homemade cookies, tortilla chips and salsa, pigs in blankets, as well as hot cocoa and apple cider and coffee. The drinks were of course offered for sustainable consumption in the Green House’s extensive collection of mugs.
It goes without saying that the event was awesome/fun/neat, and no doubt this year’s version will lead to an even bigger crowd at the corresponding Easter Semester event thrown by the Green House, Leg and Salmon.