Although chiefly known for poetry, Sacred Grounds welcomes all genres of talent. The café serves sandwiches, soup, salad and breakfast foods. To drink they offer coffee, hot beverages and beer & wine. The place seats about 36. There is no stage. A single mic is set up in one corner, but pretty much wherever you sit, you can see the talent. There are no language restrictions. Talent gets five minutes. The room goes from 7pm to 9:30pm. Parking is on the street. Give yourself lots of time to find parking. Open mic has been going on as far back as 1972 at Sacred Grounds, and the business boosts it has the longest running open mic in the Bay Area. Currently, the room is run by a gentleman named Dan, who has been hosting this room for over six years. He arrived 6:40pm. The night I was there he had a co-host, Brittany. Signup was a bit of a feeding frenzy, I am disgusted to say. I was the first in the room, and even met other people who showed up after me, all interested in doing the open mic. Yet, when the signup sheet came out at 6:50pm, Dan gave it to someone he knew and that person signed himself first and passed the sheet around to other people he knew. I eventually worked my way to the sheet and was fortunate enough to get the fifth spot. The room started 7:07pm. Twenty people, including the two hosts, made up the room. The guy working the counter at Sacred Grounds was too busy to enjoy the show. Attendance increased to 23 by the time the first talent went up. I ended up performing for about 26 people, and the room rocked. As it turns out they live stream the open mic, and you can see yourself at a later time if you want. A Featured Artist went up about 8:10pm and did 25 minutes. After which, we took a seven minute break then resumed the open mic. Attendance had dropped to 19 after the break. A second “mini” Featured Artist went up 9:10pm and did 12 minutes. When the evening ended, I excused myself to use the bathroom, and when I came out, I guess I missed it, but Dan was giving out door prizes. My name was called, and I had the option of choosing from a number of goodies, not the least of which was to be the mini featured artist the following week. While I had to go back to Los Angeles, a local comedian sure could take advantage of that prize. I ended up receiving a book of my choice. What a treat. Guys, this is a good room to do. There was so much support for all the artists. First-time performers get special recognition, too. Live streaming your performance was fun, and the room simply melted over my comedy. I was asked afterwards if I wouldn’t come to another room and “feature” there. I said yes. But for this room, yes, do it. No, I’m not particularly happy with the way signup went, but whatever spot you get, you’re mostly going to have a full house.
Although chiefly known for poetry, Sacred Grounds welcomes all genres of talent. The café serves sandwiches, soup, salad and breakfast foods. To drink they offer coffee, hot beverages and beer & wine. The place seats about 36. There is no stage. A single mic is set up in one corner, but pretty much wherever you sit, you can see the talent. There are no language restrictions. Talent gets five minutes. The room goes from 7pm to 9:30pm. Parking is on the street. Give yourself lots of time to find parking.
ReplyDeleteOpen mic has been going on as far back as 1972 at Sacred Grounds, and the business boosts it has the longest running open mic in the Bay Area. Currently, the room is run by a gentleman named Dan, who has been hosting this room for over six years. He arrived 6:40pm. The night I was there he had a co-host, Brittany.
Signup was a bit of a feeding frenzy, I am disgusted to say. I was the first in the room, and even met other people who showed up after me, all interested in doing the open mic. Yet, when the signup sheet came out at 6:50pm, Dan gave it to someone he knew and that person signed himself first and passed the sheet around to other people he knew. I eventually worked my way to the sheet and was fortunate enough to get the fifth spot. The room started 7:07pm. Twenty people, including the two hosts, made up the room. The guy working the counter at Sacred Grounds was too busy to enjoy the show. Attendance increased to 23 by the time the first talent went up.
I ended up performing for about 26 people, and the room rocked. As it turns out they live stream the open mic, and you can see yourself at a later time if you want. A Featured Artist went up about 8:10pm and did 25 minutes. After which, we took a seven minute break then resumed the open mic. Attendance had dropped to 19 after the break. A second “mini” Featured Artist went up 9:10pm and did 12 minutes.
When the evening ended, I excused myself to use the bathroom, and when I came out, I guess I missed it, but Dan was giving out door prizes. My name was called, and I had the option of choosing from a number of goodies, not the least of which was to be the mini featured artist the following week. While I had to go back to Los Angeles, a local comedian sure could take advantage of that prize. I ended up receiving a book of my choice. What a treat.
Guys, this is a good room to do. There was so much support for all the artists. First-time performers get special recognition, too. Live streaming your performance was fun, and the room simply melted over my comedy. I was asked afterwards if I wouldn’t come to another room and “feature” there. I said yes. But for this room, yes, do it. No, I’m not particularly happy with the way signup went, but whatever spot you get, you’re mostly going to have a full house.