Dalhousie students showcase their talent at the Abstract Café

Tucked in a corner of Dalhousie University’s Student Union Building, Halifax students sang original songs, performed standup comedy and played musical instruments during a talent show hosted by CKDU, Dal’s campus radio station, at the Abstract Café on Nov. 20.

The band King Eddie! The Band! was named victorious, bringing home the $200 grand prize after their performance of “Holy Fucking Shit: 40,000” from the band Have a Nice Life. King Eddie! The Band! also played an original song called “Happy For a While,” written by lead singer Eddie Sanoja, a second-year music student at Dal. 

For Colin Brown, the band’s drummer and a second-year Dalhousie music student, playing with the band offers a reprieve from his busy student schedule.

“Performing at places like the Abstract Café allows us to have an escape,” said Brown. “We can socialize with each other, just have fun and make some great music.”

Even though the band hoped to win, Sanoja said the result still felt unexpected.

“It’s still crazy that it happened, we feel really good,” they said. “We’re talking about what we’re going to do with the money … some of it will definitely go to the band, [and] we’ll maybe donate a little bit to charity as well.” 

King Eddie! The Band! weren’t the only performers showcasing original songs. Rose Moore, a first-year theatre student, performed her song, “Little Did I Know,” on the guitar. The song is about looking back on childhood memories and appreciating them in the context of her life now.

“I’m just really excited to perform and put myself out there,” said Moore.

The musicians also shared the contest stage with a myriad of other talented performers, including Rachel Ruecker, a master of fine arts student at the University of King’s College, who showed her skills as a standup comedian. She’s done standup for the past four years, but has always had a passion for making others laugh.

“I’m just excited to do a new room,” said Ruecker. “More than anything, as a standup [comedian], any chance to perform in front of an audience is always nice.”

Megan McCracken, CKDU’s operations director, organized the talent show. She was also the MC and started the contest by showcasing two of her talents — juggling and reading The Gruffalo.

“Organizing events like this is kind of my favourite thing,” said McCracken. “You get to design a cute poster, talk to people with lots of talent [and] get them excited about an event.” 

McCracken says CKDU hopes to host more events for students in the future.

“Everybody has a talent,” she said. “It’s so easy to come down, have fun and win a little prize.” 

A previous version of this story stated Colin Brown is a keyboardist, he is actually a drummer. The Dalhousie Gazette regrets this error.

A previous version of this story stated Eddie Sanoja’s pronouns as he/him, Sanoka actually goes by they/them. The Dalhousie Gazette regrets this error.

A previous version of this story referred to the winning band as King Eddie!, the band is actually called King Eddie! The Band!. The Dalhousie Gazette regrets this error.