Went to the Bentley last night - new open mic! Well, first I popped down to the Secret Garden café to check out O'D's comedy gig. Busy evening. I love O'D's stuff - it's different. And different is pretty damn rare in comedy. I didn't really like the way the show was run though. Dave Rock, a spoken word/rapper sort of artist was running it and decided they'd sort of weave in and out of acts. I guess it's nice to break the norm, but I like the separation of acts. In 30 minutes you can really get to know someone. Having two songs here and there just feels like an open mic. I mean I love open mics, but I go to a gig to see an act perform a set. And I don't really like spoken word acts. Which is weird, as everyone seems to love them at open mics. But do people go to spoken word gigs? I feel bad as it seems almost offensive to not-like them in Galway. I just prefer music is all. But anyway.
Brought my synth and loop-pedal up to the Bentley. Decided I should finally give it a shot on stage. I set it up at the back and all was good. Made a mistake though; automatically assumed the open mic would be like the Róisín on a Sunday - full house, quiet, mostly original songs. I quickly realized it'd be a night for covers and that it wouldn't be full at all - three songs per act. I only had one song prepared on the synth..and it's not like guitar where you can just play any song you know; it takes time if you don't have the tracks setup. The crowd meanwhile, was a birthday party (in superhero costumes) and a huge crowd of leaving certs on their graduation night. Luckily, two of the Róisín regulars showed up so I wasn't alone.
Given the crowd, I figured it'd be much better to go generic this time. One of the other acts was a leftie too, so I asked him could I borrow his guitar and resigned to playing a few covers. Why not - free pint, good practice and I had to wait around 'til the end anyway to get my synth down. The act before me was one of the leaving certs singing their graduation song, Kodaline - High Hopes. Nice song. He didn't have to play it twice though. Needless to say every single one of them was on the dancefloor screaming and dancing. Tricky act to follow....so I did what anyone would have done. The only thing I could do. I played Passenger - Let Her Go. They liked that. Then did two other covers that I wouldn't say any of them knew (Always Like This and The Shins - New Slang). Went well though. Nice to play other styles of gigs.
Afterwards I sat around to watch the other acts and drank free Guinness for the rest of the evening (there were spare drinks vouchers as there were so few acts). It was fun - hard to beat the Róisín, but it's not like this is meant to be a replacement. I think I'll go to both. So there.
Walked home with all my gear...pretty damn heavy. Will have to come up with a transporting method when on the road. I like the idea of attaching it all to my bike but not sure how practical that is yet. Some kinda big trolley that can be attached to the top of the van, perhaps.
Any ideas?
Brought my synth and loop-pedal up to the Bentley. Decided I should finally give it a shot on stage. I set it up at the back and all was good. Made a mistake though; automatically assumed the open mic would be like the Róisín on a Sunday - full house, quiet, mostly original songs. I quickly realized it'd be a night for covers and that it wouldn't be full at all - three songs per act. I only had one song prepared on the synth..and it's not like guitar where you can just play any song you know; it takes time if you don't have the tracks setup. The crowd meanwhile, was a birthday party (in superhero costumes) and a huge crowd of leaving certs on their graduation night. Luckily, two of the Róisín regulars showed up so I wasn't alone.
Given the crowd, I figured it'd be much better to go generic this time. One of the other acts was a leftie too, so I asked him could I borrow his guitar and resigned to playing a few covers. Why not - free pint, good practice and I had to wait around 'til the end anyway to get my synth down. The act before me was one of the leaving certs singing their graduation song, Kodaline - High Hopes. Nice song. He didn't have to play it twice though. Needless to say every single one of them was on the dancefloor screaming and dancing. Tricky act to follow....so I did what anyone would have done. The only thing I could do. I played Passenger - Let Her Go. They liked that. Then did two other covers that I wouldn't say any of them knew (Always Like This and The Shins - New Slang). Went well though. Nice to play other styles of gigs.
Afterwards I sat around to watch the other acts and drank free Guinness for the rest of the evening (there were spare drinks vouchers as there were so few acts). It was fun - hard to beat the Róisín, but it's not like this is meant to be a replacement. I think I'll go to both. So there.
Walked home with all my gear...pretty damn heavy. Will have to come up with a transporting method when on the road. I like the idea of attaching it all to my bike but not sure how practical that is yet. Some kinda big trolley that can be attached to the top of the van, perhaps.
Any ideas?
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