Yen Wor is both a Chinese restaurant and bar. Open mic takes place in the bar in a separate room. While the bar seats about 50, maybe 35 seats are good to sit in if you want to see the talent. A platform stage allows for a mic and drum set, which the host of the venue put together when he arrived. The bar is a full bar minus a blender, and all beers are in bottles. A pool table and dart board can be found in another, smaller room. Parking is on the street. Going on for a year and a half, the venue is run by a gentleman named Brandon, a musician himself, who showed up just after 7pm and put together the equipment on stage and did the sound system. I learned there are no language restrictions and no signup sheet. Talent comes in when they do, and Brandon puts them up accordingly. Since I was the first to arrive, he put me up first. There is no set time. If you’re good at what you’re doing, you can do as much as 25 minutes. I say that because the musician after me played for that long before getting himself off, and Brandon announced the next arrival. This is a very informal room. Brandon doesn’t even go up and welcome the people who came out. We started about 7:43pm and Brandon from the sound system said I can go up. No introduction. I went up and did about 15 minutes. I could have gone longer, but I chose to get myself off because I was not feeling well. I felt the onset of a cold coming the day before, and it chose to manifest itself into a head cold, which blossomed full-fledged as I write this review. We started open mic late because attendance was not high. Only one other talent had showed up by 7:30pm. Both he and Brandon stepped out for a cigarette, and when they came back we started. Six people were in the bar, but only three people were watching me. I was competing with Monday Night Football. Two TVs and a projector TV were on when I arrived, but the projection screen, located right behind the stage, was raised by Brandon, so we got to enjoy the black curtain as a backdrop, and one of the two TVs was turned off. The remaining one was muted and did not have football on. While open to all artistic expression, this room typically draws musicians. Once in a while they’ll get a poet or comedian. By 8:30, 11 people were in the room, still only three people sitting and watching talent. But for the rest of the evening it was all music, and, as I’ve said before, music is something you can enjoy without watching. I think more people were enjoying the open mic than one saw. Guys, this was a good room. Sure, I played to only a few people, but they laughed. I am reminded that it’s not the size of the audience. Even if only one person was paying attention, damn it, they came out to the show. I’m going to give them a committed performance, treating the room as though I was in front of a hundred people. The food was good, so I recommend coming with an appetite. After my set, Brandon said after everyone else has gone up once I could go up again, do another 15. I originally said yes, but as the evening went on, and my cold was more comfortable than I was, I ended up leaving only minutes before I would have gone again. It’s good to know you can do additional stage time after everyone has had a turn, gives you the stage time you need if you’re putting together a routine meant for a featured or headlining spot. This room deserves attention. I recommend, however, that comedians do this room when football is not consuming Monday’s potential audience.
Yen Wor is both a Chinese restaurant and bar. Open mic takes place in the bar in a separate room. While the bar seats about 50, maybe 35 seats are good to sit in if you want to see the talent. A platform stage allows for a mic and drum set, which the host of the venue put together when he arrived. The bar is a full bar minus a blender, and all beers are in bottles. A pool table and dart board can be found in another, smaller room. Parking is on the street.
ReplyDeleteGoing on for a year and a half, the venue is run by a gentleman named Brandon, a musician himself, who showed up just after 7pm and put together the equipment on stage and did the sound system. I learned there are no language restrictions and no signup sheet. Talent comes in when they do, and Brandon puts them up accordingly. Since I was the first to arrive, he put me up first. There is no set time. If you’re good at what you’re doing, you can do as much as 25 minutes. I say that because the musician after me played for that long before getting himself off, and Brandon announced the next arrival.
This is a very informal room. Brandon doesn’t even go up and welcome the people who came out. We started about 7:43pm and Brandon from the sound system said I can go up. No introduction.
I went up and did about 15 minutes. I could have gone longer, but I chose to get myself off because I was not feeling well. I felt the onset of a cold coming the day before, and it chose to manifest itself into a head cold, which blossomed full-fledged as I write this review.
We started open mic late because attendance was not high. Only one other talent had showed up by 7:30pm. Both he and Brandon stepped out for a cigarette, and when they came back we started. Six people were in the bar, but only three people were watching me. I was competing with Monday Night Football. Two TVs and a projector TV were on when I arrived, but the projection screen, located right behind the stage, was raised by Brandon, so we got to enjoy the black curtain as a backdrop, and one of the two TVs was turned off. The remaining one was muted and did not have football on.
While open to all artistic expression, this room typically draws musicians. Once in a while they’ll get a poet or comedian. By 8:30, 11 people were in the room, still only three people sitting and watching talent. But for the rest of the evening it was all music, and, as I’ve said before, music is something you can enjoy without watching. I think more people were enjoying the open mic than one saw.
Guys, this was a good room. Sure, I played to only a few people, but they laughed. I am reminded that it’s not the size of the audience. Even if only one person was paying attention, damn it, they came out to the show. I’m going to give them a committed performance, treating the room as though I was in front of a hundred people. The food was good, so I recommend coming with an appetite. After my set, Brandon said after everyone else has gone up once I could go up again, do another 15. I originally said yes, but as the evening went on, and my cold was more comfortable than I was, I ended up leaving only minutes before I would have gone again. It’s good to know you can do additional stage time after everyone has had a turn, gives you the stage time you need if you’re putting together a routine meant for a featured or headlining spot.
This room deserves attention. I recommend, however, that comedians do this room when football is not consuming Monday’s potential audience.