I was misled to believe open mic at 7 Sisters started at 6pm. I arrived about 5:10pm to discover it started at 5pm and goes to 7ish, signup at 4:30pm. When I looked at the sheet, every spot was filled, but I saw handwritten, 7:15 and 7:30. The 7:15 spot was taken, but I put my name on the last available spot. I later learned that the business stays open till 9pm, so open mic can spill over past 7 and no one complains. Talent gets three songs or 15 minutes. A woman named Hailey runs the room. All genres of talent are welcome. Signup is first come first choice. There are no language restrictions. The business shares a parking lot with other businesses and it is free. The area to perform is an elevated, platform stage, and everyone can see the talent performing. Two mics could be found on stage. The room seats about 50. Even some limited outdoor seating allows for some people to see directly onto the stage. The place serves beer and wine. Beers are $6, but if you perform, you get a complimentary drink. To eat, they offer cheese pairings with the wine, but you can also order grilled cheese sandwiches, chili, sliders and more. No full course dinners, but enough to fill you up. I counted 22 people in the room when I showed up. The person already performing was singing, and except for myself, only one other person was there to do standup. The majority of the performers sang and played an instrument, save for one gentleman who did some impressive poetry. As I was the last to sign up, I was in for an evening of entertainment. At 6:45 we had 18 in the room, so the numbers started to dwindle. Hailey announced at close to 7pm that the room would go past 7, as does happen, in as much as we had so much talent signed up. But as the evening progressed, I started to note the number of people going before me. At 15 minute slots, in a two hour room we can only have 8 signups. Nine if you count the 7:15 one before it would be my turn. Yet, I seemed to perceive more than nine persons going before me. At close to 7:30pm I went over to the signup sheet and saw four or five people had signed up after me, and the host had drawn arrows from their names that pointed to above mine. Hailey was putting people she knew who had signed up after me before me. Disgusted with her approach, I left without performing. I respected her rules and her room, but she showed no respect for me. Didn’t tell me she was putting people ahead of me. Didn’t ask if I would be okay with that or even if I had the time to stay that late to go up. She just put people up that she knew, often commenting into the mic that she likes returning talent. Guys, for the aforementioned reason, I cannot recommend this room. I get that it’s her room and she can do what she wants, what anybody who runs a room wants, but at the expense of other people, no, I don’t agree. This is not the first time a host of their room has bumped me like that because I was visiting and not a recurring or regular talent. And then it was just as abhorrent. I supported the room, bought a drink, watched the other talent, respected the rules, and in return I get disrespected and placed at the end of the line from a host who wants to favor familiar faces rather than welcoming equally all people coming to the mic. Shame on anyone who does this when they run an “open” mic. That’s just wrong.
I was misled to believe open mic at 7 Sisters started at 6pm. I arrived about 5:10pm to discover it started at 5pm and goes to 7ish, signup at 4:30pm. When I looked at the sheet, every spot was filled, but I saw handwritten, 7:15 and 7:30. The 7:15 spot was taken, but I put my name on the last available spot. I later learned that the business stays open till 9pm, so open mic can spill over past 7 and no one complains.
ReplyDeleteTalent gets three songs or 15 minutes. A woman named Hailey runs the room. All genres of talent are welcome. Signup is first come first choice. There are no language restrictions. The business shares a parking lot with other businesses and it is free. The area to perform is an elevated, platform stage, and everyone can see the talent performing. Two mics could be found on stage. The room seats about 50. Even some limited outdoor seating allows for some people to see directly onto the stage.
The place serves beer and wine. Beers are $6, but if you perform, you get a complimentary drink. To eat, they offer cheese pairings with the wine, but you can also order grilled cheese sandwiches, chili, sliders and more. No full course dinners, but enough to fill you up.
I counted 22 people in the room when I showed up. The person already performing was singing, and except for myself, only one other person was there to do standup. The majority of the performers sang and played an instrument, save for one gentleman who did some impressive poetry.
As I was the last to sign up, I was in for an evening of entertainment. At 6:45 we had 18 in the room, so the numbers started to dwindle. Hailey announced at close to 7pm that the room would go past 7, as does happen, in as much as we had so much talent signed up.
But as the evening progressed, I started to note the number of people going before me. At 15 minute slots, in a two hour room we can only have 8 signups. Nine if you count the 7:15 one before it would be my turn. Yet, I seemed to perceive more than nine persons going before me. At close to 7:30pm I went over to the signup sheet and saw four or five people had signed up after me, and the host had drawn arrows from their names that pointed to above mine. Hailey was putting people she knew who had signed up after me before me.
Disgusted with her approach, I left without performing. I respected her rules and her room, but she showed no respect for me. Didn’t tell me she was putting people ahead of me. Didn’t ask if I would be okay with that or even if I had the time to stay that late to go up. She just put people up that she knew, often commenting into the mic that she likes returning talent.
Guys, for the aforementioned reason, I cannot recommend this room. I get that it’s her room and she can do what she wants, what anybody who runs a room wants, but at the expense of other people, no, I don’t agree. This is not the first time a host of their room has bumped me like that because I was visiting and not a recurring or regular talent. And then it was just as abhorrent. I supported the room, bought a drink, watched the other talent, respected the rules, and in return I get disrespected and placed at the end of the line from a host who wants to favor familiar faces rather than welcoming equally all people coming to the mic.
Shame on anyone who does this when they run an “open” mic. That’s just wrong.