The Open Mic Network

Open Mic Network Update – May 19th, 2009

Hi everyone,

Wow! Last week was a week I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.

The Open Mic @ The Dan ran without a hitch even though it was a little quieter than normal. We had 4 spots left over which is a rare thing to experience however, I put that down to performers conserving their creative strength for the Open Mic @ The Joiners the night after.

Out of the 14 performers who graced the Open Mic stage there were 2 new faces.

The first being Sal Bonavita who gave us all a masterclass in the art of classical guitar. Seeing Sal up on stage further reinforced the notion I’ve always had in the back of my mind that Open Mics are a viable means of finding and encouraging new talent. Sal may have been playing guitar for years but it was the first time anyone at the Open Mic had seen him.

I could feel the excitement of the exposure of talent and the discovery of new music in the air.

The second new face was Mal Capone (yes, that’s his real name) who couldn’t wait to get up on stage and do his thing. His version of the John Denver classic “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” was an absolute hoot. I have a video of it, you can get to it here.

Sal Bonavita

Now, about last weeks Grand Launch of the Open Mic @ The Joiners…

It was an astounding success. Garth and the staff of the Joiners Arms were over the moon with the amount of people attending, the quality of the performers and the entertainment value of the evening.

I love it when a plan comes together

The night surpassed everyone’s expectations and I couldn’t have asked for a better start. I was expecting between 10 to 12 performers to kick things off with but we got a full book of 18 plus there were a few other performers who wanted to just have a look.

It was packed even though finding a carpark was a bit of an issue (I didn’t realise that the EntCent extended The Phantom” for another 2 weeks) however, once you got inside the Joiners Arms Hotel it was a musical oasis.

The food is good, the drinks are flowing, the staff are friendly and into the whole Open Mic concept (that really helps) and the overall space ROCKS!

The Performer-Friendly Crowd

Out of the 18 performers we had three new faces. First cab off the rank was a guy named Loosh and what a way to start off the new Open Mic. He was amazing, what a voice, what a guitarist, I want to see more of this guy.

Secondly we had Emily who is one half of a newly formed duo called The Wondertwins. Her partner Matt Saunders (a well known Open Mic’er himself) makes up the other half. It was her first time on stage playing the double bass to Matt’s songs and she did an amazing job.

The last new face for the night was Erica Graf who astounded the audience with her virtuosic acoustic guitar playing. She played two songs on the guitar at the same time which is a feat I had not heard since seeing Tommy Emmanuel live many years ago. WOW!

You would have noticed that I was taking pictures and taking video of both Open Mics. I’ve started to put some stuff together and posting them either on this website or on the Open Mic YouTube Page. Yes that’s right the Open Mic Network is now on YouTube so check it out and let me know what you think.

Ok, just a reminder of what’s happening this week,

As always, make sure you get to the venue early to avoid disappointment. I’ll be there at both venues from 6:30pm to take down names

See you Wensdee and/or Thursdee,

Corey
Open Mic Network – Facebook
Open Mic Network – MySpace
Open Mic Network – YouTube

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags: adelaide, music, open mic, open mike, songwriting