Binghamton’s young literati would have made the movers and shakers of HBO’s Def Poetry proud. On Thursday, the Undergrounds Café was host to over a dozen student poets who recited a rich array of verse, touching on humor, politics, social injustice, personal introspection, family and love.

An audience of over 100 gathered in couches and chairs around the stage for the second of the Harpur People’s Biannual Poetry Slam. The four-piece rock combo Heywood, comprised of both former and current Binghamton students who met in a Leslie Heywood poetry class, functioned as house band for the evening. Throwing in a few covers of Dylan and Warren Zevon along with their originals, Heywood strolled through short sets of tunes. They fused relaxed tempos via “Big Pink”-era The Band, with a vocal style somewhat akin to David Byrne of the Talking Heads circa 1977, only minus the anxiety. Their overall sound was relatively unassuming and sort of a surprising choice for such a bohemian event, but nonetheless it was received warmly by the audience.

Review by Tim McNulty, Binghamton University Pipe Dream, 4/29/05

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