Open Mic 35 Saturday 13 December 2025
next time I will perfom in an open mic I ll take a valium first 
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I was so stoked to be able to jump in and watch some very cool performances. I wish I had more time. But thank you so much. Really wonderful.
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You did great Deborah! I couldn’t tell you were nervous, it was a really smooth and enjoyable performance 
and Christmas-y too 
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You did so great !
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my legs went numb I thought I was gonna fall XD
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Well, Deborah, all I can say, as others have done, nobody noticed, and you shuffled through that blues without an obvious hiccup that I can recall.
Of course, you may have noticed some. But the thing is if you keep playing and don’t flag it with some kind of expression the small ones won’t be noticed. That is my preference (though last night mine were probably really obvious in the second song on that D7 chord, for some reason it fell apart and was about as poor as I can recall).
And the only cure for the nerves is to keep showing up. I think some butterflies can be beneficial, if they are flying in formation (as we used to say in Toastmasters). I got to the point where I’d say I was relaxed, not nervous but feeling confident, but still energised and ready. But that took ages, and with a long layoff and sporadic playing, that confidence needs to be rebuilt.
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I saw the first hour and enjoyed it live, then had to get some sleep so looking forward to catching the remainder on catchup. 
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I really enjoyed the second hour and i’m pretty sure i’ll enjoy the 1st hour when I watch the recording. Well done and thanks to all performers and organisers.
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[quote="DavidP, post:7, topic:406530”]
Of course, you may have noticed some.
[/quote]
no not much
I was really afraid everytime i had to do the D7 to C7 cause the pinky really has to land correctly first but it went well
[quote="DavidP, post:7, topic:406530”]
And the only cure for the nerves is to keep showing up.
[/quote]
I completely agree but in my case i do not learn songs very fast ^^”
Im always amazed by how people can learn a new song every 2 months and play it perfectly
its sure that the more one’s perform the more one’s learn how to get a hold of one’s nerves
we had a singer in France called Serge Gainsbourg ( very famous here )
he was so shy and sick from stage fright that he drank a glass of alcohol before playing
not a good idea , he became an alcoholic 
Its easier when you re doing a sport
you put your headphones on , you drown yourself in your own bubble and then just remove then when its about time to play
but in the OM , you have to speak a bit to present yourself and then the bubble snap and the nerves hit hard
I guess its easier for english native speakers
its all part of the learning process
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You are right, there are many that learn songs really fast. Me . . . not so much. And there are songs that I still can’t learn, many times I can strum my way through the song OK but then adding the singing, just doesn’t click. Other times, it goes OK.
I watch others and wrestle with the inner voice (that voice in the Inner Game of Tennis, named Self 1) that tells me that I am no good, that I ought to be better given the years spent at it. Of course, I am well aware that as time marches on it is not the important measure, more the quality and quantity of practice over that time.
And from another perspective, there are people who may watch and wish they could play and sing but have never tried, for whatever reason.
Thanksfully we are blessed here to receive encouragement and support, a more understanding and appreciative audience is surely hard to find. So even though the critic is pretty much absent (feedback to aid learning not being criticism), I am reminded of this by Eleanor Roosevelt
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
You are in the arena, worthy of credit and applause, and I shall see you there again
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That was my 4th OM and it still scared the bejesus out of me - but I did calm myself down a bit by telling myself that I would stop and start again if I cocked up. I was at the first concert date of Snow Patrols last tour back in February, and after 2 bars of a new very emotional song, the lead singer, Gary Lightbody, (in front of 5000 people) stopped singing and sat at the back of the stage for 30 seconds, the band played on, he re-joined them and it was the best song of the night.
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I think it was Teddy Roosevelt who said that, not Eleanore. In 1910. Regardless, it is true. Thanks to Justin for starting this journey. Thanks to Richard for coordinating. And to all of the performers and audience members who joined in! I usually finish open mics wanting to sell my guitars and stop playing, but I was very honored by the nice comments and for once didn’t feel that way. Hope to be back again next year!
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Deleted
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You are correct, thanks. Got my wires a bit crossed 
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Video edit is done, it’s uploading and will be available soon.
Just thought I’d mention that this time there were quite a few people that were very quiet. It’s been a while since I’ve done an edit with so many quiet performances.
If you want to sound best on the recording - and in the Zoom meeting - I’d recommend having a decently loud input volume. As loud as you can get without sound clipping/distortion usually works great.
I’ve boosted quiet performances where I could but there are quite a few limitations when doing that.
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Recording up in post #1
Thanks to @jkahn for video editing / processing.
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Added the Chat via a link. Will be great if somebody could test that and confirm I got the permissions correctly set up
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Worked for me David, just took me to a txt file of the chat.
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Perfect, thanks Craig
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