Students celebrate ‘The Legends’ in Spring Coffeehouse

Liberty University students celebrated icons of pop culture in front of a packed crowd at Spring Coffeehouse, the semiannual late-night entertainment extravaganza. The popular event was held at midnight on Saturday in the Vines Center.

Sponsored by Student Activities, Coffeehouse is held once a semester and features student talent in music, dance, and video production.

As part of the theme, “The Legends,” student acts covered popular artists, including Michael Jackson, U2, Jimi Hendrix, and Journey. Among the performers were bands like The Undecided Majors, who performed Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” and The Vegan Llamas, who closed the show with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird.”

D-Trex, a student-led hip-hop dance ministry, performed to a mashup of popular songs, including “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, “I Want You Back,” by the Jackson Five, and “I Feel Good,” by James Brown.

Jacob Ziegler, a junior studying audio production, covered “Don’t Stop Believing” with his band Jake Ziegler and the Locals. Ziegler said that Coffeehouse is the “highlight” of his semester.

“My band has gotten to play in both of the Coffeehouses during this school year, and they have been our favorite performances we have ever played,” he said. “It is a great feeling when you get to share what you are most passionate about in front of the entire Vines Center.”

Throughout the night, student-produced videos were also featured. One of the most popular entries showed students dancing to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” The video included students interrupting meals at the Reber-Thomas Dining Hall, moving to the beat with campus construction workers, and even dancing with President Jerry Falwell and his wife, Becki, while they were at the gym.

Student Activities also announced the winners of Liberty’s pop culture legends survey, where throughout the semester at various events students voted for their favorite musicians of all time. Johnny Cash was chosen as the favorite country act, and The Beatles were the student’s No. 1 rock band with Michael Jackson winning the male artist poll and Whitney Houston narrowly beating Beyoncé for favorite female artist.