2002-03-27 - 6:15 p.m.
As that Tom and I (AKA the Pleebs) have been playing quite a few open mic nights recently; I've collected some observations about the open mic "scene". So here's my little guide for the aspiring open mic'er and those that love them.
First, location is key. You've basically got 2 locations where these events occur: Coffee Houses and Bars. Each has it's pro's and cons.
Coffee Houses first:
|
Pro |
Con |
|
Got lots of coffee and tea if you like that. |
No beer, if you that’s what you want. |
|
Usually a more intimate crowd who are more
musically open, and perhaps actually look up from their poetry to listen to
your playing. |
Can attract more of a self-absorbed snobbish musically closed type crowd who will not find you obscure or ironic enough. You can always lure these people to your side if come wearing a Pere Ubu t-shirt and perform some little known Velvet Underground b-side. |
Now the Bars:
|
Pro |
Con |
|
Got lots of beer, if you like that. Even if you don’t it’s still a pro because it can help "grease" the crowd's ear. |
Got lots of beer, and if you like that can help to help YOU forget your lyrics and music. |
|
Usually attracts bigger crowds, which is
only a Pro if you are trying to have a lot of people hear your music. |
Bigger crowd is mostly there to drink, watch sports, and pick up opposite sex. Those that are listening usually want some James Taylor songs that they can drunkenly sing along to. Do this for them and you've got a friend for the rest of the night. |
The second main element of an open mic night is the performers. You can hear some really incredible people at these things. You can also hear some horribly shreked versions of overplayed songs like "All Along the Watchtower" (Great song, don’t get me wrong, especially Hendrix’s version. But between him, Dylan, and the numerous jazz versions I’ve heard, I think it deserves to be left alone.). Here are the main categories of peoples:
1. First timers – Either a young kid playing
the songs he/she has written in their bedrooms, for the first time in front of
people, OR a girl/guy with a good voice who are persuaded by their friends to
share. They will often stare at the
floor or out the window, and sit stationary on a stool. This is often my
favorite performer even when the song/singing is bad because they are doing it
for the Love.
2. Drunkards – Ever drink too much tequila
and feel the urge to sing your favorite U2 song in public? So do these people. They are either very entertaining or very
horrible. They will pull the mic off the stand and jump around and unplug
things. They will spill drinks on
themselves in a spazzed out rage.
Either way, they are fun to whoop and applaud at because the more you
encourage them, the more they will play the ass-monkey.
3. Veterans – This group has some subcategories. You’ve got your:
a. Cover song vets, who like to sing you a little Dylan, Hootie, or other pop favs
b. Original vets - who are the same as the previous but, play (sometimes) original tunes.
c.
Group a/b combined vets. This is the
largest group. The listening enjoyment, from their songs really depending on
the talent level, charisma, song choice, confidence, etc…
Some of these guys are real ol' timers. I'm talking about the ones who will ramble on in between songs about the peace and love era. A time when songs like "We Are The World", and "Shock the Monkey" promised to bring in a new age of peace and harmony. (-: Then there are the real really real ol' timers. I'm talking about the ones that claim to have hung out with Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.)
Some from this group travel in packs. They know where all the available open mic’s are on any given night. Some of them are cool and encouraging to us newbies, others play their songs then sit in the corner with their girlfriend and make out.
Anyways, I’ve seen some really
interesting performances at these open mic nights over the past few months: like the guy who just banged on 2 sticks and sang
Woody Guthrie type folk songs, the guy who was finger picking like a mad man
and singing these broody introspective songs ala the Red House Painters, and
the guy who free style rapped over an acoustic guitar (with which my plebe Tom joined). I’ve also seen some interesting idea’s which fell flat, like the guy who sang a really beyond out of tune Van Morrison song which drowned out the uninspiring violin playing of his partner, OR the time the Pleebs decided to forget the acoustic crap and plug in (billy bragg style), only to have one pleeb (alright me) trip over the guitar cord in the middle.
But no matter how bad or good, I do applaud the performers because I can appreciate the effort and what it takes to stand in front of people and spew. I have been in all 3 of these groups (and depending on the night can be classified in all 3 together.)
-bP
