Students in the mood for a melody will be feeling all right at homecoming this year.
That is because the Homecoming Royalty Coronation at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 will kick off homecoming week with dueling pianos.
The Shout House, a rock ‘n’ roll bar in Glendale, will provide the entertainment, which will comprise of two piano players performing classic hits from the 1950s to today.
“We play everything from Elvis to Metallica — on piano,” said Kevin Clover, one of the pianists from The Shout House who will play at the event.
He expanded the list of possible music to include Don McLean, Billy Joel and Lady Gaga.
The music, which Clover described as tongue-in-cheek, will be largely request-driven.
“It’s interactive entertainment,” Clover said. “It’s kind of chaotic.”
He added that he either plays the songs from memory or just “wings it.”
Not to be lost in the chaos is the actual event of coronation, said Allison Dykman, assistant director for homecoming.
“We will honor the Sun Devils elected to homecoming court,” she said.
The event will take place in the Turquoise Room of the Memorial Union and will feature appetizers, music, dancing and the crowning of this year’s homecoming king and queen.
The coronation will be the last stop on a long journey for the contestants. Out of 100 applications originally considered, the homecoming court has been narrowed down to 10 students, two of which will be elected king and queen.
This year’s coronation will be open to the public, where as previous coronations could only be attended by special invitation, Dykman said.
“It should be a great opportunity to get together and celebrate these great Sun Devils,” she said.
Although the event is billed as dueling pianos, the pianists will be working together more often than not to provide harmonies and melodies, Clover said.
He added that as soon as one song ends, the next would immediately begin.
“The music is continuous and all of our players can turn on a dime,” Clover said.
Clover is one of several highly skilled piano players employed by The Shout House, which opened two-and-a-half years ago and is located in the entertainment district of the Westgate City Center in Glendale.
The Shout House also has locations in San Diego and Minneapolis, and frequently does shows all across the country, from New York to Las Vegas, Clover said.
The Shout House features a restaurant for underage guests.
There is no set list for the coronation show, Clover said, since it will be decided on the spot.
“We’ll be taking all sorts of requests,” Clover said. “It should be a lot of fun.”
Reach the reporter at alex.ferri@asu.edu
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