America has talent, and there’s definitely a large concentration of it on Bradley’s campus.
Bradley’s music production club, Mic Check, hosted Curtain Call, its first-ever musical talent show on Sunday. Attendees gathered in the Dingledine Music Center to watch students perform original songs, covers and dances.
“Curtain Call is to show off all of these students and their talents,” Lauryn Frazier, a senior music entertainment industry major and Mic Check president, said.
Renée Bilsbourough opened the show singing two original songs about her personal experiences: “Close Behind,” a story about being stalked, and “Medicate,” a song about the struggles of staying on medication.
“I love performing. I love being able to share my music … To hear my words make an impact, I mean, that’s what every musician wants,” Bilsbourough, a junior computer science and French double major, said.
Dance group K18 took the stage soon after to perform the choreography of “MIROH” by Stray Kids. Sreesha Das, a sophomore game design major, was surprised by K18’s commitment to the original music video.
“I remember most of the moves they performed on stage from the actual dance performance video … which was very impressive,” Das said. “It’s a very rigorous routine.”
Following K18’s routine was Alex Cotton, who performed “Alligator Blood” by Bring Me the Horizon, Lee Wells, who sang an original song and Liam van der Bijl, who also sang his own song “Breathe Deeper.”
Katie Luker, a junior music entertainment industry major, lip-synced to “Tick Tock,” a song she created for her music video project. Even though she was performing, Luker appreciated the other performances.
“I loved all the original songs just because everyone tells so much story. It’s interesting to me because smaller artists will tell more [of a] story than mainstream artists,” Luker said.
After Luker, the dance group Vitality and rap duo CMattx3 performed. The event ended with rising Chicago rapper Keylo singing one of her original songs.
Despite the positive reception of the event, Alexander Griffith, a senior music entertainment industry major and Mic Check treasurer, worries Curtain Call may not take place again.
“The whole board is kind of phasing out of this. So if it [Curtain Call] were to happen again, we’d need people who are passionate about this club that are underclassmen standing … and people that really know how to run this thing,” Griffith said.
The next major Mic Check event will be a Grammy watch party next semester.
