By Melissa Sirrine
As the clock neared 7 p.m., hoards of people wearing St.-Patrick''s-Day green shuffled into their seats at the Marriott Center. Several moving spotlights slowly dimmed over three stages below, and the crowd grew silent.
Many had auditioned. Few were chosen. Those few lucky bands and solo artists took the fog-filled stage at Guitars Unplugged and shared their original songs.
More than a 100 bands auditioned for the BYUSA hosted concert meant to showcase acoustic guitars and show off university talent. Twenty bands were picked to perform on Saturday night.
'I felt stoked to be a part of it,' said Tyler Howells, an English major who performed solo in the show. 'I thought it was fantastic.'
Before each performance, a video clip introduced the artists and gave the show personal flair. The audience reeled with laughter when Benton Paul''s voice cracked, the band Truman explained that they 'do weddings,' and a member of the band Ease admitted that the band only kept him around for his 'sweet scissor kicks.'
Some show-goers took a double take when the closing act, Ivy League, pulled four large metal trashcans onto the stage. Band members fell to their knees and pounded away on the cans - so hard that pieces of their drumsticks went flying off.
'The trash cans put some spice into the concert,' said Neelam Alexander, a junior from Arizona who attended the show with friends. 'I thought it was really good.'
Jessica Witt, who helped organize Guitars Unplugged, said this was her favorite event of the whole year.
'It was absolutely exhilarating to stand there and see it all come together after hours and months of hard work,' said Witt, the vice president over campus activities at BYUSA.
Witt said she was shocked when, just before the last act took the stage, sound technicians unexpectedly demanded an extra two minutes of transition time.
'We threw the emcees back on stage to stall,' Witt said.
Only after watching one of Ivy League''s performers fly by her and literally jump onto the stage did she learn that just seconds before, his guitar broke and he''d had to sprint backstage and frantically find another.
Despite this difficulty, the performers agreed that the show was fun and ran smoothly.
'I thought it was the best Guitars Unplugged so far,' said Benton Paul, who sang and played guitar in the show.