Students and parents gathered for a special treat on Metzger Lawn as the 2018 Punk ‘n’ Pie talent show kicked off family weekend on Friday. “Daniel, Connor and the Taco Boys” claimed Punk ‘n’ Pie victory for the second straight year with taco-related themes in their band music.
The show was made up of eight student acts. The Taco Boys were the first group to take the stage. They were followed by a rap on the Gospel of John by senior cinema and media arts major Orian Pilger and a performance by dancer and senior elementary education major Savannah Ozier, who took second and third place respectively. The winners received awards in the form of a golden pumpkin, piñata and candy in addition to an official certificate.
THE PUNK ‘N’ PIE WINNERS
Last year, junior elementary education major Daniel Monroe and junior biblical and theological studies major Connor Pfaff debuted their hit song about their friend’s calves. This year, the winners talked about their inspiration for this new hit song.
“Mostly just tacos. Being hungry at night wanting to make some tacos,” Monroe said. “It was really fun, I think the crowd was digging it so that’s always good.”
The band contained five members, each playing a different instrument.
“I’m pretty excited, there were a lot of hours of preparation and practicing, so we’re going to eat some pumpkin pie,” said sophomore biblical and theological studies major Jake Ekstrom, one of the members.
Pilger took second place, basing his rap on the Gospel of John. His lines and rhymes were created from a Bible class experience last semester. Pilger talked about how he was also inspired by rap artist Timothy Brindle.
“[He] had written a whole bunch of raps about the Old Testament and how there’s these themes that’s traced from Genesis to Revelation,” Pilger said.
He believes this performance benefitted his biblical knowledge.
“I thought that if I wrote John with rhymes, I could remember John 4 or John 10 and I’ll know what the context of this whole chapter means,” Pilger said.
Senior elementary education major Savannah Ozier placed third with her dancing moves to groovy beats. As she twisted with beating drums, the crowd screamed with every move she made on stage. She called the performance a new challenge.
“I’ve always wanted to perform in Punk ‘n’ Pie… It’s not my first time, [but] it’s my first time doing it by myself,” Ozier said. “I just needed to grow and kind of step out on my own and do something on my own.”
PERFORMANCE REFLECTION
Although there were only three awards presented, several other contestants expressed satisfaction in the opportunity to perform in front of an audience as well as their loved ones.
“I think it went super good, my mother’s out there. I just did it for her. I know it’s the talent competition and everything like that, but this song was just from my heart to hers, so I’m glad that I did it,” said freshman music major Mehki Key.
Freshman English major Jalen Sur had a similar sentiment.
“I feel good. I stumbled toward the end but—eh. I just enjoy performing, so I did pretty good,” Sur said.
Some of the competition returners explored new approaches to their performances.
“This year we were trying to do something a little more original,” said sophomore biblical and theological studies major Benjamin Vincent. “I started to consider what would happen if we tried to tell a story by way of the songs we put together.”
The event ended with students and parents enjoying pumpkin pie on the lawn as they excitedly talked about the night’s performances.
