I’ve done over a 100 open mics now in the past 10 or so years. They’ve been a great learning experience for me, and often times, especially in the pub type of open mics, you are just wallpaper and ignored while people carry on as they do.
Tonight was different. It’s at a local pub that I’ve played at at least half a dozen times before and have typically got a good reception at, although often just ignored half the time. Last time I played there I had drunk Amanda singing loudly, if you can call it singing, about 3 feet from my face all the way through my first couple of songs. Groan.
Tonight had a great reception and even had one of the locals come up and sing with me for the last couple of songs. We did wagon wheel together for the last one and had lots of other patrons up and singing and dancing along. Fun fun fun
Sounds like ya had a great time w/o drunk Amanda there.
I find it great that you do them open mic nights. That’s got to be a real good experience.
I’d like to try to do something like that, but alas. I don’t go to pubs. + I’d likely get stage fright.
I gotta find some other kinda outlet.
Hope that covers for all the drunken Amandas of the past. So it’s good to see you had an enjoyable evening and shared your music with some other folks and touching them, making them enjoy their time as well! That’s what it’s all about - happy for you!
Thanks everyone, it does help when the good ones come along to make up for the challenging ones. Drunk Amanda didn’t bother me as much as it sounded like in my description of her, I was actually pleased at the time that it didn’t shake my confidence. Drunk Amanda really really bothered my wife because as soon as Amanda figured out the lady sitting nearby was my wife, they were suddenly best of friends. My wife got out and went home as soon as Amanda went to get another beer. Haha.
I’ve battled some pretty severe performance anxiety with open mics in the past so it was nice to realize afterwards I’d pretty much beaten the nerves and just went there to have a good time. Keeping at it and doing more open mics sure helps with the nerves as well as reading the tea leaves and recognizing what triggered the nerves, in my case it often was being too optimistic about the sort of song I could play. Had to go back to basics and play the easier and slower songs initially.
I also change what I play for pubs verses music club open mics. The slower fingerstyle folk stuff doesn’t tend to go down well at pubs yet it’s what I’m best at. At pubs it’s more the strumming and faster songs.
Great stuff! I did an open mic on steroids last Saturday, it was a session at a local music venue and I bashed out 12 songs to various levels of competence to be honest, but I sounded great through the stage monitors and the highlight was when I finished Vincent and all the bar staff clapped! Happy days!
Yes the nerves affects me too, my wife came to watch me for the first time at an open mic on Saturday, and she ended up being more nervous than I was! I was well pleased with my efforts though, very encouraging
Keep going Tony, and keep posting, it’s very inspiring and encouraging to hear how people are getting on👍
Thanks Mike, 12 songs is a great effort at an open mic. This one is at a country pub of a villlage of about 500 people, we live only 1.5 km out of town. The last two times I’ve played at the open mic there I was the only guest. The host of the open mic said usually it turns into karaoke with him playing known songs and locals singing along. There was one lady who did a great rendition of the Cranberries song Zombie. I gave up this time after half a dozen songs and my voice was struggling, had been at a two hour rehearsal with another group I’m in earlier in the day so my stamina was definitely lagging.
Great to hear the bar staff clapped. I got great clapping from the pub patrons after my 1st two songs, then after the third except from a lone teenager who was at a large table with his family for dinner. That lone clapper put a wholesome smile on my face. After that the sing along started and they all joined in.
So it’s good to see you had an enjoyable evening and shared your music with some other folks and touching them, making them enjoy their time as well! That’s what it’s all about - happy for you!