Toby, you have the link.
Do not fear authority.
Be a man and share it.
The mods can tidy afterwards 
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Not wimping out but I am not sure Richard or David review before posting here.
Video now in post #1
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Open Mic 14 video is now posted. Review time!
It opened with a new MC - @Notter AKA Mark, also colloquially known as an honorary Oasis member or “the third Gallagher” (if I say it enough it will stick). No Oasis songs this time but a great MC job!
Also has a PRS guitar that looks a lot like my Fender’s colour… Cheese & Cheese.
@DavidP Kicked off the night with an awesome rendition of A Girl Like You. 
I think I’ve said it before - for previous performances - this has to be one of your best, if not your best performance I’ve seen. Great singing, awesome beat and dynamics and great playing. Loved it, kicked off the night strong. And I just realised your PRS is also the same colour as Mark’s and my fender. Maybe we should start a cheese guitar club seeing as you guys seem to have a PRS club. 
@liaty You had me at dunna-din-din-din-duuun-duuuun! I love the Metallica Whiskey in a Jar cover, and I think most of the world does too based on it being in their top 10 streamed songs on Spotify. You nailed it mate.
Oh yeah, your cameraman (camera-bot?) was drunk! Couldn’t hold a shot.
@adi_mrok I’ll be there for you by The Rembrandts, that most people know as the friends theme. A really compelling, chilled out version which added a new spin to it. I know you weren’t happy with your own performance here… but honestly I don’t know why, I thought it was great. You’re such an accomplished player.
@Rossco01 Wow, wow, wow. Teenage Kicks by the Undertones. You know what, I don’t think I’d heard this one before I started studying the JustinGuitar rock songbook. I enjoyed your version better than the original. Must be your voice, tone & playing. Can really tell you’ve a seasoned performed used to leading a band.
@jestersea Jesse! An acoustic version of Dear Prudence. Sad the audio levels were a bit low, I wish they’d been higher so we could hear the quiet bits better. Great singing and dynamic changes really made it. A couple of little stumbles but that’s OM life! Overall another good performance.
@twistor59 Phil, Phil, Phil. Where The Streets Have No Name. Mark said “the stage is yours”. Well, I think that stage is in a stadium. The contrast between your mild, chilled out speaking and MASSSIVE sound always strikes me. The streets have a name now. This has to be one of the standout performances of the night. Legendary song played perfectly.
@elevatortrim Serhat, making your OM debut! Brave going to do an in person OM even though in in the end it didn’t happen - I haven’t worked up the courage to do that yet. A great acoustic rendition of some RHCP. Otherside. Loved how you moved through the different sections of the song and changed dynamics and playing. Good one, great debut.
@eric.lennon Back again, and almost attempting ultra-hard mode by only picking the song on the day… well I’m glad you gave yourself a bit more time! Del Amitri seems like one of those bands that the UK peeps know but down under I don’t think got much airtime. Great playing like usual and what looked like a long solo to remember! Great stuff.
@iainism Playing electric this time! Glad you could make it after missing the last one. Promise Me. Played and sang fingerstyle, just to make it trickier! A engaging performance, great guitar tone, singing and playing. Well done.
More to come…
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Mini-reviews continued…
@dobleA Andres. I think the piano entry surprised us all! A hidden pianist, was that your wife? Really nice to have the extra accompaniment and really filled out the song. I didn’t catch the name of the song, sounded great and a lovely tune.
@TheCluelessLuthier Always a great show from Mark & Jen! You guys always look so happy when performing and have such great interaction with each other. Teach Your Children by Crosby Stills & Nash. Lovely harmonies, great playing. Loved the up and down jump to the beat.
@DonnatheDead Almost didn’t make it, we’re all glad you could. First JG open mic, although I did see you play in the JG LiveStream before Christmas (one I watched the recording of). I didn’t pick up the name of the song. Great performance! Your guitar playing laid the foundations for your voice, a really strong powerful voice, and some great dynamics. Nice!
@Jenndye429 Jennifer & Dan. I am eternally jealous of Dan having a drumkit in the house, I’ve been hinting for a while to get one but, uh, I’m told I make enough noise already (yeah, I know you can use headphones, but there’s still that whack-whack noise, and they’re big). The Runaways - Cherry Bomb. Your voice is very Joan Jett like - I think that’s why you pick her stuff. Really well played and awesome to have the band along to the OMs. I don’t know how Dan can play without a real hi-hat… works though!
@Charlie_James “Hey guys, I’m just going to climb Mt Everest in front of you”. 
Playing Sultans of Swing, already a really hard song, while singing it, looping, playing all the solos, with a drum track going to keep in time with. OMG. Yeah, ok, a couple of stumbles, can’t let that take away from how awesome 99% of it was. We’re all guitar players here and I was just in awe that it all came together. Insanely awesome.
@skeletor83 David playing a Lonnie Johnson blues (I think). We can tell you’re into the blues for sure, and into blues history too. A challenging song, some difficult to remember licks for sure! Real blues tone to your voice. Nice one.
@nzmetal What a debut! The bedroom guitarist becomes a performer, what an awesome song to choose. For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica. The costume get up, the performance, theatrics… Oh yeah, and the playing! So awesome, Mega tone, awesome riffing. Also, no singing… which hopefully gives more non-singers a view as to how it can be done!
@jkahn This guy… Oh yeah that’s me! In Bloom by Nirvana. I was overall happy with my performance, even though I muffed a couple of bends in the solo, and the part where I zoned out and forgot where I was up to in the song near the end isn’t even very noticeable… lol .
@TheMadman_tobyjenner Toby bookending the performance. A great performance is usual. The Sound of Silence, Disturbed version (kinda!). Well there was no silence in this sound. Some awesome playing and excellent singing! I loved the tones as well, from mildly overdriven through to distortion. What a great way to end the show!
Thanks everyone, another great show. See you at the next one.
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Hi JK thank you for commenting. Good the backing track sounded as good as if there was a pianist on the room. It was just the tablet connected to the line in of the multi-effect pedal (without guitar) and connected to the guitar amp. The exchange of glances and the little talk with my wife was about “la pista”, the track, that she was checking if I was ready to start playing it. Playing a musical instrument is not one of her skills but she accompanied me as part of the audience. The name of the song is “Quizas, quizas, quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps)” that has numerous recording either in Spanish (like Nat King Cole and Andrea Bocelli) or English (like Doris Day) and also mixed as I did. According to the internet the Doris Day version is played in the movie Cruella. I’ve seen the movie but I do not remember the song being played. Maybe I have to watch it again.
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Oh wow! Well it worked great.
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Thanks Jk! I’m very happy to have another musician around. My friend/neighbor is learning the bass so I’m hoping we can get her involved at some point too.
Dan tried to play acoustic drums a few months ago when we were visiting family that had a set and it was actually hard for him because he was used to the electric ones. But we will see! I keep telling him we should get a set, but then there is the noise and extra storage space. But maybe we will at some point.
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@jkahn
Over and above to review each performance, JK!
I am more than happy to be just a little better each time, which means hopfully every time is a new best. And I think these last couple demonstrate that from an overall perspective you can do better if you keep some things simple, like the three open chords and strumming in this one.
As for a cheese theme in naming the PRS, that would be quite a change in vibe from my Epi LP, Vincent Blue Beast 
That colour at PRS is called Santana Yellow as far as I know. Invites naming the guitar Carlos. So following the previous pattern this could be more Carlos Yellow Canary Just doesn’t roll off the tongue. But naming my guitar The Chedda Shredda … Sounds like it could be a good name for a spoof metal band with all the instruments in cheddar yellow … dear me … getting totally silly
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@skeletor83
You are quite the student of the blues, David, well immersed in the history. I find it interesting and you are most welcome to share your thoughts on the blues, your study of it, and learning to play in either a #community-hub:learning-logs topic or in #community-hub:just-chatting. You can also share recordings of songs performed by those artists in the What Are You Listening To topic in Just Chatting.
Speaking of those recordings, I watched Lonnie Johnson’s version. It was quite wonderful. His vocal style ever so smooth. And a superb example of blending in the licks with the riffs. Justin has a lesson on this which you may find helpful if you’ve not studied it: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/solo-blues-1-lick-in-riff-bg1804
A tip that has helped me and many many others when learning songs and studies is to slow it way down, as slow as you need to go to be able to play in time, without hesitations. You have the parts under the fingers and that approach may help you on the switching between licks and riffs.
Keep on playing them blues!
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Fantastic review @jkahn! And thank you for your very kind words! 
Absolutely agree with your run through, so very well covered, take a bow sir! I was mesmerised watching the recording back and how much I didn’t fully take in when watching it live (especially @Charlie_James & @skeletor83 who were both exceptional but I mostly missed due to my prep. @skeletor83 what a behemoth of a song to tackle dripping with blues legend & @Charlie_James I watched agape as you crafted live an arrangement of such complexity it left me awestruck!). It was easy to miss the intricate details of how everyone’s performances came together and the subtle technical aspects of what they did. @adi_mrok with your superb talent and ability to make a song your own (much better than the original imo!), @twistor59 with your seemingly god-like ability to morph into any guitarist you wish, @DavidP whose performances are so engaging they never fail to pull me in, @eric.lennon with such cool vocals and playing it always leave me hanging for more! @elevatortrim coming out the gates with a stonking debut! @TheCluelessLuthier & Jen always so entertaining with this one the best I’ve seen!
…to be continued
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… @jestersea whose emotion-filled playing and vocals are an inspiration! @dobleA whose understatement belies the majesty of his performances, @Rossco01 leading the way with how it is done! Truly impressive! @iainism pushing the boundaries and delivering a gem! @Jenndye429 with Dan (and hopefully a new bassist soon?!) shining like stars and pulsating with rock n’ roll! @liaty wow sir! Your outstanding playing, incredible vocals and execution blow me away! @DonnatheDead with effortless playing and exquisite vocals being an honour to behold (on debut nonetheless!) and @TheMadman_tobyjenner with the full package of performance, class and killer tone to close it out! Not to forget @jkahn…I know I’ve already said it but your progression is immense and ability to perform is to be heartily applauded my friend! Congrats again to all the performers, it was an incredible privilege to share the stage, so to speak, with you all 
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Greetings,
Good show there to all of you who ventured into this OM. Lots of great performances all around.
For me, it has been a while since I sampled an OM. To my ears the quality across the board has come up greatly in the play and audio department. All can take a bow as each did a great job to promote this advancement.
It can probably be said a bit of Madman has rubbed off and his work has been a step in the right direction. Good job to each on their performance and sound improvement! Thanks Toby for the hours spent and dedication to gluing all the sound components together. Sharing your findings really helped I think! I know others contributed to the sound improvements as well. A well done to you all…
Cheers to all and keep up the good work!
LB
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Review part 1, because I am only allowed to tag 10 people:
@DavidP: Great start of the night. The solid pulse really gave this event a good start. And as always, your real world open mic experience come across with your performance.
@liaty: Looper #1 of the night. Great song choice for your vocals. You know how to pull of James Hetfield’s voice. Also nice idea to loop the riff and not the chords (I’ve seen people usually do the opposite). The one thing you missed though was YEAHHHH !
@adi_mrok: I’ve only watched a season or two of Friends, but this brought a smile on my face. You got the four claps from me each time! Nice arrangement and well played. Suits your voice as well!
@Rossco01: It is very clear you’re in a band. You know how to relax in the performance, how to deliver it and maybe most importantly, you know how to finish in style. It made me smile. All I was hoping for was that after you said thank you, you’ll just unplug and leave the room like one of those rockstars!
@jestersea: I absolutely loved your introduction. First favourite Beatles song, not the first Beatles song and also not the Beatles version, made me chuckle. I am impressed by anyone who can fingerpick and sing at the same time so well done!
@twistor59: You played one of my favourite album openings of all time and you absolutely naiiled it. Thank you so much!
@elevatortrim: Another classic song and congratulations on your debut, even though it had to be a vritual one. Well, I guess better this than another cancelled gig. And if you handled cca. 40-50 people, you’ll do fine in a pub with 4. Keep us posted how the next in-person open mic goes!
@eric.lennon: Mate, when you told the story of picking a random song on the day, I genuinely imagined you rolling a few dice and whatever lands, lands. Or in a style of Russian rullete with song titles instead of the bullets. This song was a lot on the radio back home when I was little, so it brought a lot of memories. Well done!
@iainism: It took me until the first chorus to remember what the song is. Nice choice with fingerpicking to replace the piano part. Very emotional delivery and a nice tone of your voice.
@dobleA: In short: My friend started singing along and was really into it, so I think you did a good job!
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Review part 2:
@TheCluelessLuthier: Whenever I see you two on the bill, I get very excited. You two are a joy to watch and listen to and really show what the music/entertainment is all about (enjoying the moment and having fun)!
@DonnatheDead: Really enjoyed your performance, old school unplugged rock n’ roll. Nice, emotional delivery and a great debut. Looking forward to hearing more from you!
@Jenndye429: You guys were loud as promised. Proper rock show. Maybe you should start a band called “Inverted White Stripes” or something.
@Charlie_James: Looper #2 of the night. Man, that’s some dark magic. Backing tracks, looping parts, singing and then I was thinking: “Will he do it, will he do it?!” and yes, THE solo happened! Nice one mate, keep 'em coming!
@skeletor83: Went from Led Zeppelin last year to some of the original acoustic blues now! I am waiting for the thread on Lonnie Johnson and more in-depth reading on your favourite parts of blues history.
@nzmetal: Second Metallica song of the evening! What more can I ask for?! Good tone, good playing, and you definitely have some stage presence!
@jkahn: It is very clear that you used to play drums. Your rhythm is super solid. Also, Nirvana songs suit your tone and voice and you can do the “Nirvana mood” (as I call it) very well.
@TheMadman_tobyjenner: Great closing act Toby. I always enjoy your storytelling before the gig and the actual playing equally. You’ve grown as a singer a lot as well. Cool arrangement of the classic song!
Thank you @Notter for doing the MC duties, and thanks to everyone working behind the scenes that keeps the open mics going. It was a great night!
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@glpguitar @nzmetal @jkahn It is so nice of you to take the time to write insightful comments on every single performance. Lovely to read your comments.
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@nzmetal @glpguitar
Tip my hat for you writing up your review, over and above. And aprpeciate the kind comments.
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