Open Mic 41 Recording & After-Show Chat

Community Open Mic Events
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Open Mic 41 - Staurday 29 August 2026

Many thanks to all performers, all audience members, Phil, Boris & Lisa for behind-the-scenes magic (plus Toby for a last-moment intervention that saved some headaches) and Ashu for being a wonderful MC.

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Great show!
Couldn’t attend live but caught up here :smiley:

Thanks everybody for hosting, playing, supporting and being awesome! :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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Well with these OMs running through my viens, I can’t help but check in and ensure all is going well and ringing the odd alarm bell when my old spidey senses kick in. Glad to have helped out at the late hour.

To all taking part, watching and the “back room” staff thanks for keeping the show rolling. Circumstances here at MMS (new pup and family hols) inhibits viewing this OM but I am sure everyone gave it there all and kept the bar at the usual high level.

Keep doing what you are doing peeps and maintain the spirit of the first JGC Open Mic born out of those early covid days, when real out in public OMs were prohibited and folks were forced to seek other ways to perform together. From those early days I never expected us to have hit 40+ OMs.

So please keep these shows rolling and anyone who’s thinking about having a go, tick the entry boxes and go for it. You won’t regret the experience, which is likely to be unique even in today’s online world !

:smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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Again the OM recording was a great pleasure to watch!

Bravo and thank you to everyone who contributed and was involved :slightly_smiling_face: :clap: :guitar: :+1: :party_popper:

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I would second what Toby says, have some fun and go for it, you will enjoy it and it provides a record of you doing so. Something I treasure.

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Good to be back on the horse again :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:
Cheers to Ashu for hosting and all the background help. Smooth as butter…
No blow-by-blow review, but a few remarks:
@Jonjdarcy was determined to make me homesick with all the references to Dublin in two of his songs. Cheers, mate! :grin:
@Richtrfc sounds better solo than when I ‘drown him out’ with my strum ‘n’ shout :rofl:
@Alexeyd is still the best ‘free live act’ around
Some lovely fingerpicking as well as uke action by @dominique7 :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:
Superb debut by @Abhi who was sublime! Very Cat Stevens :folded_hands:
@docdanguitarman brought on more homesickness with his Glen Hansard tribute, followed by a fab original.
@TheCluelessLuthier & Jen played us out with their usual bonhomie and panache
Hehe, well, that was almost blow-by-blow :rofl:
Only shadow on the evening was the hard fact that this was the first OM after Lara’s passing away, RIP.
I’m looking forward to see what the next one brings already :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:

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Yes, I enjoyed it too!
Thank you to everyone organizing them and keeping them running, and thank you to all of the performers!

Having not felt too well during the week, and having practiced very little, in the end I chose two different songs from what I thought I would play. The good thing was I immediately went better during the open mic, so it seems it had a sort of healing effect on me, which I found funny! :slight_smile:

Hey Brian, thank you! :slight_smile:

I definitely picked this uke I built (from a kit) with my son because our great Brian Larsen played a few chords on it already some time ago! … Which I guess increased its value by a considerable factor! :slight_smile:
And which I wanted to refer to, but forgot while being on stage! :roll_eyes:

And yes, Brian, I missed our english duo too! :broken_heart:

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Cheers, Geraldine :innocent:

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I didn’t arrive home in time for the live event but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the recording :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

@brianlarsen

  1. “Your Ghost” was a very expressive performance. I enjoyed the dynamic contrast in both the guitar and vocals between the verses and the chorus.

  2. “Beelzebub’s Bells” immediately drew me in with its captivating story. I’d love to know how your creative mind works—please take that as a compliment! The lyrics are fantastic, and I really enjoyed the contrast between the sung sections and the spoken delivery.

@Jonjdarcy

  1. “Marley Park” was such a sweet song, with some lovely fingerpicking throughout.

  2. “Mary’s Pub” what beautiful, melodic playing and deeply moving lyrics— it made me cry.

  3. “Read My Mind” had some lovely rhythm playing, and I really enjoyed all three songs, Jon.

@Alexeyd

  1. “Blackbird” was a stunning arrangement. I’m not qualified to comment on your playing, Alexey, but the tone of your guitar, combined with those magical fingers and clean harmonics, sent a tingle down my spine.

  2. “Vincent” is a song that makes my heart ache. I can never sing the line “I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you” without choking up, and now I’ve discovered I can’t listen to an instrumental version without tearing up at the same moment. Bravo is all I can say.

  3. “Tall Fiddler” was so convincing that when I closed my eyes, I could almost believe it was TE playing.

@dominique7

  1. “Freight Train”—well, who doesn’t love this song? You played it beautifully, and I was singing along with you.

  2. “Till There Was You” is such a romantic song, and it sounded gorgeous on the uke. It suits your voice perfectly, and you sang and played it beautifully.

@Richtrfc

  1. “Devils and Dust” is such a powerful song, and once again I found myself in tears. It was sung and played with real tenderness.

  2. “House of the Rising Sun” is a classic, and it’s one of those songs you just have to sing along with—and I did! I enjoyed both of your performances, Richard; lovely fingerpicking.

@abhiralla

  1. “Ripple” You had a lovely guitar tone and such a pure vocal, nice fingerpicking loved how you highlighted the accent notes and you did a great job converting it to fingerstyle.

  2. “Duncan” you really know how to tell a story Abhir. This was an easy, confident performance and very enjoyable to watch.

  3. “Time in a Bottle” is such a poignant song. Jim Croce left this world far too soon; he was a wonderful songwriter. You played and sang it beautifully.

@docdanguitarman

  1. “Song of Good Hope” showed your passion for a great song, Dan. That feeling came through clearly and helped me connect with it. I’ll definitely look up Glen Hansard.

  2. “Take What You’re Given” shows your gift for writing thought-provoking lyrics. I always enjoy your original songs.

@TheCluelessLuthier @LongSufferingWife

  1. “Bad Moon Rising” had great hats, lovely harmonies, and wonderfully melodic, rhythmic playing. You had me singing and foot tapping along.

  2. “Neon Moon” I felt the heartache of the lyrics. You complement each other so well—it was a lovely performance.

  3. “Chimes of Freedom” was a great song to end with—one that sends people back to everyday life with something to think about. It’s remarkable how lyrics written in 1964 can still feel so relevant today.

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Thank you Nancy!

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Nancy, you’re too nice! :slight_smile:

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@Nancy15

That’s a great summary of the night and many thanks for the very kind comments- if you liked the 2 amble songs, you should definitely listen to how they play them!!

Ps - I think I might have screwed up with my first attempt to reply above - no idea what I did.

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Thank you Nancy!

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Thanks so much Nancy. This makes me happy

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Whoa, Nancy!
What an attentive, thoughtful review of the show :open_mouth:
Much appreciated :folded_hands:

‘Without a filter’ is probably the closest I could describe :rofl:
and it does get me into trouble every now and again, but often with a giggle… :wink:
Thanks again.

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