SA hosts ’80s flashback
Back to the ’80s — Dance group, D-Trex, performed a Michael Jackson tribute which included the famous “Thriller” dance. Photo credit: Ruth Bibby
The Vines Center was a blast from the past Friday, March 30, as students donned side pony tails, plastic sunglasses and plenty of neon for ’80s Coffeehouse.
Throughout the night, videos highlighting the popular people, events and trends in music and movies of the decade reminded students, the majority of which were born after 1990, of what life was like back then. Although the majority of Coffeehouse attendees were born after 1990, many students still cheered at the timeless movies and events which still affect today’s society, such as Star Wars and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
The majority of the acts featured musicians covering popular ’80s songs such as U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.” With the recent deaths of notable singers Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, both who rose to fame and released a majority of their hits in the ’80s, Coffeehouse was full of tributes to the pop icons — which, of course, included “Thriller.”
U2 — Musical group Dogwood and Holly sang a cover of “Where the Streets Have No Name,” by U2. Photo credit: Ruth Bibby
“Liberty’s Coffeehouse would not have been complete without someone dancing to Thriller. I’m so glad they did it. It was so awesome to see,” Jill Davis, a former Liberty student, said.
“I liked the Michael Jackson tributes and the Whitney Houston tributes. The singing was fantastic. I knew there was talent at Liberty, but never that many diverse voices or dancers. They really surprised me tonight,” senior Jeremy Carden said.
Humorous videos submitted by students, such as senior Allie Carico, were also a big part of the night’s festivities.
“I loved it. It’s my senior year and my last Coffeehouse, so it was pretty awesome to come and be in it as well,” Carico said. “It was a goal to be in Coffeehouse (while we were) at Liberty, so we finally did it. It was definitely something to get off the bucket list.”
One of the most memorable acts of the night was the finale, which featured Joe Mielnicki, James Black and Pat O’Hara doing a synchronized dance routine. Mielnicki, who performed a magic act at last year’s Coffeehouse, said the motivation for trying out was simply to make other people happy.
“We decided to audition because we wanted to please the Lord through it and make our fellow students laugh their faces off, because we love bringing smiles to people,” Mielnicki said.
And while performing at Coffeehouse was a great experience, Mielnicki says that the best part of participating was becoming closer to Black and O’Hara.
“Before this, James and I never really knew each other, but eventually I became even closer to (them) as if they were brothers. I never expected something like that would happen. It’s such a great way of closing off my last semester at Liberty with a bang. These are definitely the moments that I’m going to treasure forever,” Mielnicki said.
Carico echoes Mielnicki, saying that whether you’re an audience member or performer, the best part of Coffeehouse is always the company.
“I think the best part about Coffeehouse is experiencing it with your friends and laughing and getting together with groups of people for one purpose. It’s a lot of fun, especially just dressing up and wearing goofy clothes and letting off the seriousness of day-to-day classes,” Carico said.