It was a unique open mic at Ralston’s Goat in that the host of the mic, Eric, was making his debut as producer and emcee. The room has been going on for months, but Eric took over for the previous producer and this was his first week. Parking is on the street. I arrived 6:12pm and found Eric setting up the mic. All genres of talent are welcome. It is first come first choice. There are no language restrictions. Talent gets three songs or 15 minutes. There is no stage. Two mics are set up in one corner, the backdrop being a window and street traffic. The place seats about 30 who can see the stage well. The signup sheet came out at 6:15pm. I took the fourth spot. The business is a full bar, and they have two muted TVs playing. The room goes till 10pm. We had 18 people in the room when we started on time. I went up about 7:40pm and played to 19 people, five of which were actually paying attention. The room seemed a little unfocused. Sports were playing, and anyone interested in that did not give a fig about the mic. While on stage I could see those listening were for the most part enjoying the set. The majority of the room was not watching me. I did not do the full 15 minutes, getting myself off around the ten-minute mark. Guys, this is not a bad room to do. In fact, I believe as Eric gets more comfortable helming the room, he’ll be better about bringing the energy and attention to the talent on stage. This room is used to music, and as you know, you can enjoy music without having to pay full attention to a song. But for the talent who have something else to offer -- poetry or standup -- making open mic the dominant event in the bar on Tuesday will have the room more respecting those on stage. I suspect by the time anyone who reads this review and does this room, Eric will have his open mic as the main attraction once a week at 7pm.
It was a unique open mic at Ralston’s Goat in that the host of the mic, Eric, was making his debut as producer and emcee. The room has been going on for months, but Eric took over for the previous producer and this was his first week.
ReplyDeleteParking is on the street. I arrived 6:12pm and found Eric setting up the mic. All genres of talent are welcome. It is first come first choice. There are no language restrictions. Talent gets three songs or 15 minutes. There is no stage. Two mics are set up in one corner, the backdrop being a window and street traffic. The place seats about 30 who can see the stage well.
The signup sheet came out at 6:15pm. I took the fourth spot. The business is a full bar, and they have two muted TVs playing. The room goes till 10pm.
We had 18 people in the room when we started on time. I went up about 7:40pm and played to 19 people, five of which were actually paying attention. The room seemed a little unfocused. Sports were playing, and anyone interested in that did not give a fig about the mic. While on stage I could see those listening were for the most part enjoying the set. The majority of the room was not watching me. I did not do the full 15 minutes, getting myself off around the ten-minute mark.
Guys, this is not a bad room to do. In fact, I believe as Eric gets more comfortable helming the room, he’ll be better about bringing the energy and attention to the talent on stage. This room is used to music, and as you know, you can enjoy music without having to pay full attention to a song. But for the talent who have something else to offer -- poetry or standup -- making open mic the dominant event in the bar on Tuesday will have the room more respecting those on stage.
I suspect by the time anyone who reads this review and does this room, Eric will have his open mic as the main attraction once a week at 7pm.