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January 17th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum
What can I say? It was an awesome show. One of the best Youth Speaks performances ever. The
show was sold out; members of the Youth Speaks youth board, SPOKES, and
"volunteers" had to sit on the floor, but that only made it
better.
Every year on Martin Luther King Jr.
Day, Youth Speaks puts on a show called "Bringing The Noise" in
remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. The lineup for "Bringing
the Noise" MLK is always full of incredible poets and performers.
This year's line up was no exception. We featured performances by Dennis
Kim, Golda Sargento, Emiliano Bourgois-Chacon, Rickena Bates, Lauren
Wingate, Jose Vadi, Miles Douglass, Dahlak Brathwaite, Dominque Jones,
Josh Begley, Cameron Brown, Meilani Clay, Corina Paila, Dyanna Loeb,
Natalia Banderas, Nina Rosenberg, Manon Bogerd-Wada, George Watsky, Trent
Walker, Terry Taplin, Kathy Turchin, Nayeli Adorador, Katri Foster, Dalia
Yedidia, Hazel Kleingrove, Susanna Myrseth, Rachel Acereto, Adriel Luis,
Jocelyn de Leon, and Ruby Ching. There were several group pieces, a few
musical pieces, including the one and only Jeremy Monangdo, who performed
a self-written song, and a dance piece by Leah Joy. We had special
performances by Imerald Bay, two dudes from Zion, and Unity and his DJ,
Treat U Nice.
At 7:00, half an hour before the show started, the line to get in
filled the Arts Forum lobby and out their doors into the streets and there
were still people in another line trying to get tickets. 7:20, the
auditorium was swarming with excitement as people began pouring in. The
show started off with the traditional call of the griot by the Youth
Speaks staff. From different parts of the room, each member of the Youth
Speaks staff took turns busting out half a minute of poetry. There was a
roar of applause from the audience as the last poet ended and DJ
Funklor started rippin' out the beats. The night's MC, Ise Lyfe, strutted
on the stage and started off the show,
"Everybody, Make Some NOISE!"
It was an incredible night. There was stuff from helluv intense poems,
to some chillax comedic poetry. There were roars from the crowd before and
after every performer. I got sucked into every poem, and I could tell
everyone else in the audience was feelin' it too. Every time something
deep was said you could hear mummers of "MmM" through the
room.
DJ Funklor usually does his annual tribute to Martin Luther King mix,
but this year, a well-known intern at Youth Speaks, Matt Werner, oh excuse
me�DJ Matt Werner did a tribute that was
very well done. He came on stage with a red and black hunting cap; we
heard some girls yell, "We love you Matt!", while some guys in
the front joked, "Elmer Fudd!"
The night
ended with Ise busting, and a bit of singing, a powerful poem in
remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was an incredible night, I
can't think of a better way to remember and celebrate the life of Dr. King
and his dream.
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