The bi-weekly open mic event at the Orange and Brew belonged to Danni Bay and friends on Monday night.
The Danni Bay Band, which is comprised of lead vocalist Danni Bay, keyboardist Ishmal Lewis, drummer Nuri Saberin, guitarist Ryan Monaghan and baritone saxophonist Sammie Jones III, headlined the event held on the University of Florida campus which was accurately entitled “A Night with the Danni Bay Band.”
Bay said that the Orange and Brew wanted to get a soul band to broaden their horizons and were willing to pay a band to perform at the event.
“I would have done it for a free lunch,” Bay said.
The black stage backdrop surrounded by colorful lights set the stage for the eclectic event. Artists of various backgrounds with distinctively varying talents performed throughout the night while The Danni Bay Band acted as hosts and narrators to the event.
“We invited anyone who likes to have a good time,” Jones said
Several poets from Poets Inc., a UF student organization, a rapper, a guitarist and several walk-in poets showcased their talents at the event. Many of the performers were UF students, with one accidentally picking up a class schedule instead of her poem while preparing to perform.
Poem topics varied greatly ranging from raunchy relationships gone bad to the poem that directly followed called “Cinnamon Bun” translated to mean “sin a man burns” which was about Christianity.
Jones took a break from playing the saxophone to recite an original poem titled “Societies of Love” which was inspired by CNN.
The crowd mirrored the diverse nature of the event with audience members of various backgrounds.
As their first time hosting the Open Mic event, the band was apprehensive about the number of people that would attend.
“It was about 80 people. I’m not kidding when I say I thought there would be about ten people,” Bay said.
Crowd participation was a recurring theme throughout the night. The band continued to keep the crowd clapping during their performances while poet and Santa Fe College student Brian Brown had the crowd rehearse the line “push” to be used throughout his passionate poem.
The band performed original material inspired by their life experiences as well as covers of other artists’ songs such as “Fallin’ In Love” by Anthony Hamilton.
The music was not the only original concept the band incorporated into the event.
“This is some kind of kitchen mechanism, but we use it because it’s cooler,” said Bay in reference to the homemade maracas filled with rice that the band used.
Local Gainesville poet Byron Woods, who has been writing poetry since 1994 and performing at various other poetry events in the area, said this was his first time seeing The Danni Bay Band.
“It is rare that a singer would come. I love this one best,” Woods said.
Jones believes that Gainesville does not have enough outlets for soul and acoustic artists to showcase their talents, however, Bay feels that there are a few outlets that simply need to be found.
“I don’t think there are enough outlets for soul musicians and funk music, but we’re trying to change that. It’s just one of those places where we have to go digging,” Bay said.
The Danni Bay Band hopes to perform again at the Orange and Brew and will start working on their first demo soon.
“Maybe by the end of the semester we’ll have something physical to give people,” Bay said.
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