I bit the bullet last night and brought my guitar to the open mic at our local arts centre. (£3 entrance fee, the same as I paid for the Pogues!)
I know a few of the regular ‘playas’ from way back when I organized a series of fundraisers for a mental health charity in Uganda, so although the standard was good to excellent, I guessed it would be a supportive crowd
Murphy’s law dictated that when I took my axe out of the gig bag, the high e-string had broken. Sigh. The loose contact on my pickup selector also decided to rear its ugly head in the first song. I’m not sure I can blame either of those for forgetting how to play a B minor in the second song, but we struggled through, and the audience were very polite
A fun evening and another life experience chalked up. Will I do it again? Hmm… not in a hurry. I think everyone will need a little time to recover
(A ‘like’ instead of a comment is fine. I’m on a comment ‘go-slow’ at the moment)
Hi Brian ,
I’m also going to listen to you very well … but on behalf of my wife in the background I have to say (so I don’t) … nice and cool that you did it .But learn to replace your strings quickly … always spare strings , but it worked well this way
And my wife expects they’ve recovered from your quick chatter
Greetings Hermine
@DarkWillowTM Haha, I think you are right to a certain extent, Vincent. Everyone likes to see a debut or something ‘new’ Incompetence on repeat can become quickly ‘tedious’
Re stringing: Man, what are the odds?!?
@DavidP I swear it had six strings when I arrived
You can bring whatever you like (someone brought a full-sized harp!) but they have a couple of mics and jacks plugged into the mixing desk and PA system with a guy on the sound desk. It’s a friendly format where you can turn up at 7 and sign up, starts at 7.30 till about 10pm. Most of the audience are performers or friends of.
@roger_holland Haha, I would agree with you, Rogier if I was going to make a habit of this, but alas, I think not I realised before I got up that I would need to cut down on a lot of what I had thought I might ‘say’, and was conscious of ‘rushing my words’ somewhat. I presume that’s a similar phenomenon many of us find when we start performing, that we tend to speed things up there too.
Hermine shall remain my favourite fan as I only experience her through the weirdness of Rogier’s lens…
Have a nice weekend
Top job Brian and you - literally - broke your duck. Yep always carry spare strings ( or a guitar ). Great and amusing intro and a good performance. I hope you enjoyed it!
That was a fun way to start off the day! Nice to see you out and about and sharing the BL-ness with the world in real time. So much to learn from your confidence and showmanship. Nice share!
I applaud you for getting up on the stage and giving it a go. Many, many people are so nervous the first time they perform in front of relative strangers they never get through the performance.
Don’t let a case of the nerves, or pride, dissuade you from having another go at an OM. Your personality and talents will lift a lot of spirits.
That was a performance allright, very enjoyable and entertaining as seen from the audience’s side. Can’t imagine through what versions of purgatory you were travelling at the same time, dealing with all of the unexpected hickups. Chapeau!
Great stuff Brian sounds like you enjoyed yourself and they enjoyed your performance. Your humour and sense of fun never fails to impress, not just on here by the looks of it!
)
… but on behalf of my wife in the background I have to say (so I don’t) … nice and cool that you did it .But learn to replace your strings quickly … always spare strings 
, but it worked well this way 
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