Parking at Underground is either on their immediate paid parking lot -- just yards from the entrance to the building -- possible free parking at a nearby lot and walking to the mic, or street parking, which is free, but when I was there, everything was taken. I paid the $1 an hour because it was closest. The coffeehouse is located on the third floor. Upon exiting the elevator, you’ll see the entrance to your left. Inside is a coffee bar to the immediate right, specializing in coffees, obviously, but also teas, and they offered non-alcoholic beverages, too, as well as some refrigerated food items to snack on. I purchased their hot chocolate. Very good. The room seats about 75 with a variety of sofas, lounge chairs, and more. The stage is great, roomy with four mics set up and well lit all over. As a backdrop you see Underground’s gray logo over a red wall. Signup is 6:30. It is first come first choice. There are no foul language restrictions, but the host emphasized to be sensitive to people. The room has been going on a few years, but the current host, Alex, has been running the room since September of 2018. The room goes till the last talent has gone up, but the business closes at 9pm. Talent gets five minutes. A large timer counts down, so you know exactly how much time you have left. The signup sheet came out at 6:37pm. I took the fourth spot. We had eight signups by 6:51pm. The room started right at 7pm, with Alex welcoming everyone, explaining the rules and bringing up the first talent. No one applauded till after any talent finished their art. In the room I counted about 45 people or more. The first talent took a moment or two to set up, and immediately the room started talking, almost restless. The same thing happened with the second talent, their taking time to set up and the room becoming talkative till they were ready to play. I asked the host to announce I was doing standup, so the room knew immediately there would be no down time, that I would start right away. It worked. I went up fourth, which was about 7:22pm. I did remarkably well, doing a set right to the last second. The audience received me very well, with a few students howling with laughter at some jokes. I had a great time. I stayed as long as I could, but I hadn’t eaten all day, and the restaurants closed at 9pm. I got out of there just before the fifth talent finished their spoken word. I saw no people leaving any time soon. I think people stay to support to the end. There are 18 spots on the signup sheet, and I thought I saw about 14 of them taken as I was leaving. Guys, this is a very good room to do, certainly if you’re trying to appeal to a very young audience. There were a few gray hairs in the room, but mostly this is a young crowd. For people staying more than one night in Bellingham, there are open mics that I know of, as of this posting, four days back to back. Try to fit this room in when you’re in the neighborhood.
Parking at Underground is either on their immediate paid parking lot -- just yards from the entrance to the building -- possible free parking at a nearby lot and walking to the mic, or street parking, which is free, but when I was there, everything was taken. I paid the $1 an hour because it was closest.
ReplyDeleteThe coffeehouse is located on the third floor. Upon exiting the elevator, you’ll see the entrance to your left. Inside is a coffee bar to the immediate right, specializing in coffees, obviously, but also teas, and they offered non-alcoholic beverages, too, as well as some refrigerated food items to snack on. I purchased their hot chocolate. Very good. The room seats about 75 with a variety of sofas, lounge chairs, and more. The stage is great, roomy with four mics set up and well lit all over. As a backdrop you see Underground’s gray logo over a red wall.
Signup is 6:30. It is first come first choice. There are no foul language restrictions, but the host emphasized to be sensitive to people. The room has been going on a few years, but the current host, Alex, has been running the room since September of 2018. The room goes till the last talent has gone up, but the business closes at 9pm. Talent gets five minutes. A large timer counts down, so you know exactly how much time you have left.
The signup sheet came out at 6:37pm. I took the fourth spot. We had eight signups by 6:51pm. The room started right at 7pm, with Alex welcoming everyone, explaining the rules and bringing up the first talent. No one applauded till after any talent finished their art. In the room I counted about 45 people or more.
The first talent took a moment or two to set up, and immediately the room started talking, almost restless. The same thing happened with the second talent, their taking time to set up and the room becoming talkative till they were ready to play. I asked the host to announce I was doing standup, so the room knew immediately there would be no down time, that I would start right away. It worked.
I went up fourth, which was about 7:22pm. I did remarkably well, doing a set right to the last second. The audience received me very well, with a few students howling with laughter at some jokes. I had a great time.
I stayed as long as I could, but I hadn’t eaten all day, and the restaurants closed at 9pm. I got out of there just before the fifth talent finished their spoken word. I saw no people leaving any time soon. I think people stay to support to the end. There are 18 spots on the signup sheet, and I thought I saw about 14 of them taken as I was leaving.
Guys, this is a very good room to do, certainly if you’re trying to appeal to a very young audience. There were a few gray hairs in the room, but mostly this is a young crowd. For people staying more than one night in Bellingham, there are open mics that I know of, as of this posting, four days back to back. Try to fit this room in when you’re in the neighborhood.