Blue Rock is a hot spot in the south Bay Area. When I arrived at 6:37pm – street parking took longer to find a spot than I allowed myself – five of nine openings had been filled. There are two open mics. The first is from 7pm to 8:30pm and its first come first choice. Then there is a second open mic that starts right after. In that one you can be a little more colorful with your language, as long as no children are present. Otherwise, keep it PG and certainly don’t say f**k. I participated in the first open mic. Talent gets two songs or ten minutes. There was a guest host that night. He is a musician but did not go up himself to perform till the second open mic started. I believe his name is Roger. Another gentleman did the sound system. The stage is a one foot platform. There are two mics with a third mic at a piano to one side of the stage. The room seats close to 30, and the room is set up like a theater, with most of the seats facing the stage. There are no TVs or any distractions. The venue is its own room and an alcove separates that from the portion of Blue Rock where you order food and drinks. Drinks like beer, wine and coffee, and food like pizza, salads and sandwiches. They even offered dessert and juice and sodas. The room has been going on since the early 2000s. Attendance was 16 when we started. I had the fifth spot. Attendance increased to 20 by the time I went up. At its peak there were 24. As it turns out, I was the only comedian in the first open mic. I had a good set. Never got the light. I saw the host come towards the stage, and then I interrupted myself to ask if my time was up. When the host nodded, I finished with a quick joke and got off. My recommendation is to ask for the light at nine. If you’re on a roll, you can lose all track of time. On a personal note, a number of people who performed were, like me, making their debut at Blue Rock the night I went up. One gentleman made his debut, performing for the first time on any stage in his life, and I got to see that. I host my own open mic and occasionally get to see someone make their debut on stage anywhere. I think that’s cool. I get to see a one-time thing: someone making their debut. Just a personal observation.
Blue Rock is a hot spot in the south Bay Area. When I arrived at 6:37pm – street parking took longer to find a spot than I allowed myself – five of nine openings had been filled. There are two open mics. The first is from 7pm to 8:30pm and its first come first choice. Then there is a second open mic that starts right after. In that one you can be a little more colorful with your language, as long as no children are present. Otherwise, keep it PG and certainly don’t say f**k. I participated in the first open mic.
ReplyDeleteTalent gets two songs or ten minutes. There was a guest host that night. He is a musician but did not go up himself to perform till the second open mic started. I believe his name is Roger. Another gentleman did the sound system. The stage is a one foot platform. There are two mics with a third mic at a piano to one side of the stage. The room seats close to 30, and the room is set up like a theater, with most of the seats facing the stage. There are no TVs or any distractions. The venue is its own room and an alcove separates that from the portion of Blue Rock where you order food and drinks. Drinks like beer, wine and coffee, and food like pizza, salads and sandwiches. They even offered dessert and juice and sodas.
The room has been going on since the early 2000s. Attendance was 16 when we started. I had the fifth spot. Attendance increased to 20 by the time I went up. At its peak there were 24. As it turns out, I was the only comedian in the first open mic. I had a good set. Never got the light. I saw the host come towards the stage, and then I interrupted myself to ask if my time was up. When the host nodded, I finished with a quick joke and got off. My recommendation is to ask for the light at nine. If you’re on a roll, you can lose all track of time.
On a personal note, a number of people who performed were, like me, making their debut at Blue Rock the night I went up. One gentleman made his debut, performing for the first time on any stage in his life, and I got to see that. I host my own open mic and occasionally get to see someone make their debut on stage anywhere. I think that’s cool. I get to see a one-time thing: someone making their debut.
Just a personal observation.