Late Night brings the world to UMaine

By Nathan Thoms

Posted on Feb. 09, 2004, at 12:00 a.m.

andrew gordon

CALYPSO MAGIC - The Planet Pan Steeldrum Band plays as part of the Late Night in the Union. The event was co-sponsored by CAB, LASO, and AGR.

Despite the cold, typical Maine weather outside, Memorial Union was full of signs of the people of Asia, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and South America on Saturday at Around the World: Late Night in the Union. This multicultural entertainment festival took place Friday night in the union.

“We’re very proud,” said Joe Mollo, the director of Campus Activities Board. “This [event] has been such a success.”

Such sentiments were echoed by CAB member Erin Smith, who said the event “kicks ass.”

CAB and Mollo estimate the total attendance of the event was between 300 and 400 students, an especially large number considering the snowfall and the resulting logistical difficulties for both performers arriving from throughout New England and attendees arriving from throughout the state.

The event allowed those attending to get their names written in Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese, to see authentic origami, and to partake in a few of these regions’ traditional snacks, like their regional teas and fruits.

The most successful act of the night was undoubtedly the Planet Pan Steelband, which kept up a relentless pace of both traditional steel drum selections and covers of modern songs. The significant crowd responded positively to the group’s peppy and powerful music. A crowd of 75 to 80 people turned out for the group’s performance.

Attendees were also offered the opportunity to fight one-on-one with six-foot foam jousting poles while standing atop narrow foam pedestals in the Bear’s Den. They were able to ride a mechanical bull in the North Pod, which consistently drew crowds of 40 to 50 people, sumo wrestle while dressed in large foam suits, or even play basketball while tethered with bungee cables to a pole.

The Bangor Room was packed, overflowing into the adjoining hallway for the African Student Group, which recently formed and used the Late Night event as its first sponsored activity of this type. Traditional African music and dress were showcased and the event turned festive later in the night as audience and performers alike performed and danced.

The Matrix: Revolutions was shown on a 10-foot screen to a small audience.

Union Central was turned temporarily into a coffeehouse atmosphere complete with skilled acoustic guitar performances on a small stage and an intimate crowd gathering around on the sofas and chairs.

While the event was a great success, wintry weather caused a smaller audience showing, and resulted in the cancellation of the Latin Dance performance and the giveaways to be offered in the Union Marketplace. The Bookstore’s offering of 15 percent off all purchases seemed to go unnoticed by the majority of Late Night goers as there never seemed to be more than a handful of customers taking advantage of the savings.

The event was sponsored by CAB, the Muslim Student Association, the African Student Group, the Asian Student Association and Alpha Gamma Rho.

The overall response to this event was positive and the majority in attendance expressed one common theme: this needed to happen again.

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