just been to such a poor open mic

raecarter

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I'm very angry right now. Ill paint the picture I am now without a sling after myvshoulder operation and wanted to work through some songs and get back into playing live. I turned up with a mate at a pub and there was a band playing so we sat quietly waiting. They then after forty five minutes said would you like to play. I obviously said yes so they set up the mics for me then all left for thirty minutes while I played. The pub was empty so was just me and my mate they then came back and.proceeded to use the open mic as another hour practice till.my friend came down and did some songs. Again they left. Needless to say I won't go back to that open mic.
 
A couple months ago I went to an open mike that didn't have a mike. It was the first open mike this place had done, and they hadn't gotten a hold of any equipment yet. So no amplification. The inducement for me was that since they didn't yet have a following, there wouldn't be a lot of participants and I could play a longer set. But in order for the audience to hear me, I had to skip all the songs with fingerpicking, and stick as much as possible to just strumming songs. Luckily, I know how to project when singing. Some guys tried going up and doing intricate fingerpicking on guitar, or singing in a quiet voice -- no one except the near side of the first table heard them.

I went back to that place last month. Now they had a mike, but no mike stand. The M.C. held the mike in front of my mouth while I sang.
 
So, OP, what's your gripe here... that you sat thru a band playing but when it was your turn, they didn't stick around to listen to you?

Probably happens a lot. People get their friends to come just for their performance and they really couldn't care less about anyone else on the bill.
 
Erm reading that back ignore it must remember don't type whilst drunk
I ordered a breatholizer for my PC for exactly that reason. Locks out my keyboard..
 
Erm reading that back ignore it must remember don't type whilst drunk

Works both ways...Nothing like liquid courage and at the same time, a few drinks makes me more open to other people's performance
 
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So, OP, what's your gripe here... that you sat thru a band playing but when it was your turn, they didn't stick around to listen to you?

Probably happens a lot. People get their friends to come just for their performance and they really couldn't care less about anyone else on the bill.

No my gripe was that they advertised an event and when I came to that event they looked at me like I had two heads for daring wanting to take up some of their cleverly arranged free band practise.

The computer breathalyzer is that a real device!
 
Rae, I'm with you on this and have seen it happen. In a local of ours there was lots of publicity in an open mic. Few turned up save for a rather poor band who played for too long, and an old fella with an acoustic who was brilliant but nervous and quite quiet.

The band were rowdy, and talked and laughed loudly through the old fellas songs. He finished, looked peed off and left. Then the band did some more practice, ending with just the drummer randomly playing over a backing track played from a laptop into the PA. We left soon after.

I dont blame the band, I blame the pub. If you put an open mic on, you need to manage it. Should have cut the bands initial set shorter, encouraged the old guy to play again etc.

As it was, it turned into nothing more than a free practice room for the band
 
Rae, I'm with you on this and have seen it happen. In a local of ours there was lots of publicity in an open mic. Few turned up save for a rather poor band who played for too long, and an old fella with an acoustic who was brilliant but nervous and quite quiet.

The band were rowdy, and talked and laughed loudly through the old fellas songs. He finished, looked peed off and left. Then the band did some more practice, ending with just the drummer randomly playing over a backing track played from a laptop into the PA. We left soon after.

I dont blame the band, I blame the pub. If you put an open mic on, you need to manage it. Should have cut the bands initial set shorter, encouraged the old guy to play again etc.

As it was, it turned into nothing more than a free practice room for the band

That is identical to.what happened really it turns out it was the organizer's band so nuff said really
 
[...]I dont blame the band, I blame the pub. If you put an open mic on, you need to manage it. Should have cut the bands initial set shorter, encouraged the old guy to play again etc[...]

This.

For the last 5 or 6 years I have run an acoustic session at my local pub. Very occasionally I hold open mic nights, but generally a round-the-circle session is more pleasant and enjoyable.

Open mics are valuable (if properly hosted) for getting experience of playing live through a PA. They are also great for inflated egos who just like to show off. Unfortunately there is often too much of the latter.

For those who want the fun of playing with other people and a setting in which to build up their confidence and repertoire, a well-hosted session is a great alternative. One still gets applause from an audience, but the pressure is less and the egos are kept on a leash!

It's a shame that quite a few open mics are poorly run.

YMMV.
 
When I used to host an open mic, I was always sure to give people no more than ten to fifteen minutes (between two and four songs, depending on how busy it was) and I never left the area - never know when they need technical help.
 
I help run a great fortnightly jam session in the form of a sing around.
It is in the Concert Room of a local club.A dozen or so tables are arranged in a circle on the centre dance floor.
Performers sit at those tables and anyone who just wants to listen sits on the periphery.
We take it in turns to go around the circle - one song each - and anyone who wishes can join in. In fact quite a few of the guests bring crib sheets which are handed out to the other performers - some of whom are very accomplished musicians. We also provide an excellent bass player and electronic drum kit - the only people allowed to be amplified.
To date we have had guitars, harmonicas, flutes, clarinet, ukuleles, banjos, vocalists (we can busk a backing for most folk if they ask) and the format works very well and leads to all sorts of impromptu combinations and collaborations.

There are many clips here of the different performers.
http://www.youtube.com/user/acousticvic
 
I help run a great fortnightly jam session in the form of a sing around.
It is in the Concert Room of a local club.A dozen or so tables are arranged in a circle on the centre dance floor.
Performers sit at those tables and anyone who just wants to listen sits on the periphery.
We take it in turns to go around the circle - one song each - and anyone who wishes can join in. In fact quite a few of the guests bring crib sheets which are handed out to the other performers - some of whom are very accomplished musicians. We also provide an excellent bass player and electronic drum kit - the only people allowed to be amplified.
To date we have had guitars, harmonicas, flutes, clarinet, ukuleles, banjos, vocalists (we can busk a backing for most folk if they ask) and the format works very well and leads to all sorts of impromptu combinations and collaborations.

There are many clips here of the different performers.
http://www.youtube.com/user/acousticvic

This sounds brilliant!
 
That's a bigger version of what we do. Definitely a fun way to do it. :)
 
...I went back to that place last month. Now they had a mike, but no mike stand. The M.C. held the mike in front of my mouth while I sang.

Boggled. Absolutely boggled. No mic I could almost understand if they were really wanting to "feature" an open mic but without raising the ambient level too much. But, a mic and no stand? Is there really anybody that dumb? LOL

John
 
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