Kings High School’s annual Music Mania took place at Kings High School Auditorium on Thursday Oct. 30 from 6-9 p.m. Music Mania is an event where students gather to share original music with each other and other members of the community. It started years 6 ago, and has always been student-lead. Choir teacher Scott Hayward says that Kings has been doing an event like this since 2008.

Senior Brad Berg opened on the piano, then One Knight Only performed two covers, “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus and “Classic” by MKTO. One Knight Only is an a capella group consisting of: Logan Cittadino, Katie Davalos, Ryan Dilts, Savannah Donaldson, Anya Grayson, Jillian Krynock, Amber Mitchell, Katelyn Sevier, Sabrina Sharpe, Miranda Schooler, Kianna Vire, and William Forgham. Donaldson was lead singer for “Wrecking Ball” and Krynock lead for “Classic.”

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Evan Murray sang a duet with Delaney Schueler and accompanied her on guitar, her on tambourine. Nick Froehlich performed with the band Rubber, as named by Betty White, “The Rubber Band”. Rubber’s members were Froelich, Ben Baker, and Patrick Richie. They performed 2 original songs and covered a song called “Start Wearing Purple”. Brennan Gray performed 5 original songs, including an especially moving one called Sapphire Eyes. He later performed with the band The Candy Wrappers (himself, Dustin Acree, Declan Hayden, andNikki Walter accompanied by Ben Baker on bass).

The Candy Wrappers recharged the atmosphere from the moment they stepped on stage. They came on stage in ghost costumes, one (Ben Baker) with a beanie on over his. Acree proceeded to rap about Halloween and danced like he was at a rave, causing the crowd to go into hysterics. Leila Ashworth performed two covers, “Autumn Leaves” by Ed Sheeran and “It’s All Right” by Marlango. She was accompanied by Declan Hayden. Cassidy Foley sang 4 songs, “Management”, a mashup of Katy Perry’s hits, “What Do You want From Me”, and one original song she wrote that night before the show. Foley offered the audience a signed rejection letter and a speeding ticket she’d received, which the crowd found funny.

This year, as in previous years, seniors were a big part of the overall success of the event. Senior performers/veterans Brennan Gray, Nick Froehlich, and Liela Ashworth shared their thoughts on the event as a whole.

Gray has participated in Music Mania in previous years and says he’s always enjoyed it. As for the future of Music Mania, Gray says: “If Music Mania keeps one thing after this, I hope it’s the sense of open-mindedness that we all share. I want for it to continue to be inviting to people who want to try it out and express who they are to the rest of the school-everyone deserves that experience.” Froehlich is very invested in events like Music Mania, due to his intense focus on music. “It’s a good opportunity to share my music with others.” Froehlich says that he believes in Music Mania’s ability to attract different kinds of artists. Leila Ashworth said that this event is important because it brings this element of creativity out in the kids that we don’t usually see at school. She said that the best thing about Music Mania is that: “Nobody judges you for what you decide to do or perform. You’re in a safe environment where you get a chance to collaborate with other musicians and artists without the fear of being ostracized.”

Music Mania is such a big deal in Kings because it displays the freedoms we have for speech and expression that we may not always be reminded of otherwise in our school’s environment. Brennan Gray put it best when he said: “It’s an easy outlet for kids at our school to do what they love and share it with others–especially music–music is the best thing ever because it relates to everyone. Music Mania is special because not many schools have something like this, it’s unique to Kings.”

photos by Kylie Gay, for The Knight Times