“We raised almost $350.00,” said sophomore Aly Baker, speaking of Amnesty International Club’s benefit concert held on February 22. For just four dollars all who attended got to listen to music, enjoy free food, and hear poetry written and read by their peers. The first official event of the night was the musical stylings of senior Tate Dannemiller and Baker. The keyboard/guitar duo opened with an original song and followed up with Katy Perry’s ever-popular “Teenage Dream.” After their lively performance, students were invited to come onstage and read their poems. Each poet was lauded with various whoops and hollers showing the audience’s appreciation of each individual’s creativity and bravery.  “I liked hearing everyone’s poems because some were really funny and some were really deep,” said freshman Josh Proal.  

A favorite event of the night was continuous throughout the concert. When students arrived, each person was given half of a heart with a number on it. One other person in the room held the other half of the heart, and it was students’ mission to find their ‘soul mate.’

“I thought the soul mate thing was adorable!” said sophomore Marisa Pierce. Many people formed new friendships after finding their soul mates, and everyone was introduced to someone new.

After the first round of poetry, all attendees were invited to the buffet of free food courtesy of Flippin’ Pizza and Yogis.  While munching on salad, pasta, pizza, and breadsticks, the audience was treated to a performance by the death metal group, iknowperfectlywellimnotwell! Each song brought down the house, and their act was concluded by a show stopping metal cover of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”.  “I liked when the metal band sang ‘Bad Romance’ because that is the first time I have ever heard a metal cover of a song like that,” said freshman Griffin Knipe. More poets then shared their work, some humorous, some sad, and some simply beautiful.

 Following the poems was a guitar and vocal performance by senior Austin Burns. Afterwards, the last couple of poets took the stage to wrap up the poetry reading. The final event was a performance by the reggae group Simple Green. The cool, swaying beats were the perfect finish to a fun night, and each attendee went home with their stomach filled with good food and their head filled with good music. The event was popular and well-attended, and a good amount of money was raised.