The atmosphere in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater was buzzing. Friends were greeting each other loudly from across the rows, Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" was blaring from the speakers, and there was an air of eager excitement in the room as everyone waited for the host to announce the first slam poet of the evening. The "VOCAL: Relieve 2010" poetry slam concert on Sunday night might have felt more like a club than a benefit concert, but that only added to its appeal. "We gonna have some fun tonight!" shouted Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams to the nearly packed auditorium, "We're gonna get angry, get happy, get upset. We might even cry a little!" Although it sounded like he was making a joke, Adams' introduction gave an accurate preview of the variety of emotions that were felt during the night. The poets touched on topics ranging from their first loves, first times and first heartbreaks to hip hop, suicide, lost innocence and the irritation of having big boobs.The first poet to take the stage was Oveous Maximus, and he set the tone for the night beautifully. With speech so rapid I almost felt like I was watching a fast-forwarded tape, Oveous won the crowd over with his lyrics and charisma. He made the crowd laugh by sharing a poem to his girlfriend titled "Letter to my Future Ex-Girlfriend, In Case I Fuck Up," had the women in the audience snapping their fingers in approval after he read a feministic poem about his mother and caused complete silence and a subsequent standing ovation when he spoke about the suicide of his brother. The duality of emotions shown in Oveous' performance was a key feature of the evening. Many of the poets continually mixed comedy and tragedy into their routines, and almost all made sure to mention the Empower Through Education Summer Camp, the Haitian relief program started by Brandeis student Shaina Gilbert '10, to which the proceeds of the night would be going.

As the night went on, different poets-some talented Brandeis students and some professional slammers with years of experience- spoke intimately about their lives. Having never been to a poetry slam before, I was shocked at the extent to which the poets gave us access into their thoughts. Gaining this personal access into a stranger's feelings was not only incredibly eye-opening, but it was also extremely fun. It was as if the poets were giving us permission to snoop through their diaries. Other memorable performers of the night were Phil Kaye, an adorable guy with a Jimmy Neutron hair cut who made the crowd melt with his sweet and funny tale about losing his virginity; the tattooed Rachel McKibbens, a pink-haired punk rocker who spoke honestly and beautifully about her daughters; and Regie Cabico, a poet who seamlessly mixed hilarity and tragedy together when speaking about the hardships of growing up gay in a small suburban town.

One of my favorite aspects of the night was the way in which the show incorporated both professional slam poets and Brandeis students. Out of the 11 poets of the night, five were Brandeis students, and they were so great that I kept on having to flip through the playbill to check who was a student and who was a professional. Jordan Hinahara '12 only performed one poem, a beautiful one that dealt with anger and heartbreak. Sarah Kass Levy '12, who has won numerous creative writing awards, read a poem using striking metaphors to compare her body to war. Rachel Parkin '11 skillfully mixed speech and song to perform a poem in the voice of Billie Holiday, and Jason Henry Simon-Bierenbaum '11 captivated the crowd with his expressive use of body language and a poem about the horrors of the Titanic. The last student poet of the night was Usman "Y" Hameedi '12, and he received raucous applause after reading his poem about the complexity of being a Muslim American after the death of his close friend on 9/11.

Throughout the night, one could hear appreciative murmurs of "Wow," "Oh, man" and "So true," not to mention generous finger-snapping (which actually happens at these things! I used to think people only did that on TV). The night ended with thunderous applause and a standing ovation from the crowd; the concert was over, but it won't easily be forgotten.