Tell me about your first open mic stories

moga · #1 09-03-2008, 10:21 AM

I have never done it before..

just wanted to do it sometimes..:
just want to know the stories on your first open mic (well any good stories will be great!)

hansentj · #2 09-03-2008, 10:52 AM

I don't think anybody's first open mic story involves "I came out and rocked the house!". If I had to venture a guess, it would be more like "I came out and looked like a feeble infant holding a object that was foreign to me and my voice sounded like a pubescent boy."

As for me, it wasn't so much an open mic as an actual gig that no one should have given me. I forgot a good quarter of the words to every song as well as any important changes. I tried to make up for it with banter but I ended up self deprecating the whole time and did so without a hint of humor. It was rough. Perhaps the worst part of it all is that I was playing a friend's beautiful Goodall and so I must have looked like such a poseur. "Yeah, I got a five thousand dollar guitar in my hands but I'm not sure what the changes on this I-IV-V song are."

donter · #3 09-03-2008, 12:03 PM

It was at church and I tried an orgininal with a lively blues feel my first time in front of 70 people. It was going pretty good till someone yells something like what is he talking about, you know I forgot that the first time people hear something they don't know, they don't know what to expect and they did not what us to spent any time talking to kept the show moving along. Then the voice got a little shaky missed a few notes but got though it. They did make me feel good with a standing ovation but it could have been better. Realized a few mistakes on the song fixed it, now it moves a lot different and is better.Glad I did it you learn by doing. But they did record the song without my knowledge. Which for a church rubbed me the wrong way.

Bob1131 · #4 09-03-2008, 12:36 PM

I have never played an open mic, but my first acoustic gig was an experience to remember. The year, 1971; the city, Agawam, MA; the place, The Red Baron Lounge (RBL). My wife and I were just two kids who thought they were getting their first break into the music business. We had answered a newspaper ad wanting a small live music act, and scheduled an audition during daylight hours with the club owner, manager, and head bartender. They liked us and hired us for Friday and Saturday nights for one month.

Now, I have to repeat, we were just two kids...two unexperienced, innocent, scared, thrilled, stupid, 18-year old kids. We didn’t know that you must check these types of places out during their “normal” business hours. We hadn’t a clue that you really need to assess the clientele to be prepared for what they might want to hear. As it turned out, the RBL was THE OFFICIAL hangout for the local chapter of the MOTHERS motorcycle gang!

This was not your local, nice, “let’s-sit-down-and-have-a-cup-of-coffee” type of place. Oh no, this was not a “I’ll-have-a-glass-of-your-best-Bordeaux” kind of place. Oh no, no, not the Red Baron Lounge. This was a good-time, brawl-ready, shot & a beer dive, and THEY were just waiting for NEW entertainment to arrive! Our first song was “For What It’s Worth.” When we got to the line “There’s a man with a gun over there” one of the patrons at the bar displayed his sawed-off shot-gun and exclaimed that he had a gun, too! That’s when this, I mean yours truly, stupid kid stopped playing and said “oh, s___t” while thinking, what have we gotten ourselves into? Well, when I stopped playing, the place fell silent, and my softly spoken comment of despair and regret was broadcast loudly over the microphone!

The following 10 seconds of silence were the most stressful seconds of my life, when the whole place burst into laughter! It was 1971 and public profanity was not normal! What we had, unknown to us, was a very effective ice breaker. The rest of the night was fantastic – kind of like an English pub where everyone has a pint in hand while singing songs that everyone knows! We became unofficial mascots of the Mothers and kept playing there every Friday and Saturday night for the next 6 months!

reddcee81 · #5 09-03-2008, 12:56 PM

I've yet to play an actual "open mic", but played my very first gig, all two hours of it, back in January of this year. I had scrambled to come up with two hours worth of music, changed my strings and practiced till I couldn't stand to hear the songs once more. The coffee shop was PACKED...not because I'm that good, but because I know alot of people and advertised like crazy. I relied on the amazing advice of several of the AGF'ers(Danno, fitness1, RogerC just to name a few), but was still terrified. The place filled up and it was time to begin, but I couldn't remember a THING I had gone over!! My heart was pounding so loud I could hear it over my own voice. My very first song was "How Great Thou Art" done with VERY little picking on the guitar, almost acapella, and lots of emotion. It seemed as if I had only started that song when I realized the two hours was over...the whole night was a blur! It must have gone ok, because they scheduled me for my next four shows before I could get out of there. Since that point I've played about every 1-2 weeks and am gradually adding more coffeehouses in different cities!

All that to say, if I can do...go for it! You'll love!

Neil K Walk · #6 09-03-2008, 01:29 PM

I've been playing at a couple of local open mics for about a year now. I still get nervous before getting up there but at least I'm getting them under control when I finally do take the stage. I try to banter when I'm up there but I'm sure I sound like some sort of lunatic. The MC's pretty good about putting up with my eccentricities but gives me a good ribbing every now and then. He's bumped me in the nose with the microphone a couple of times; the first time I thought it was an accident but now I know better. That's OK - (I'm sure) it's all in jest and meant to ease my nerves, that's all!

Eracer · #7 09-03-2008, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donter

It was going pretty good till someone yells something like what is he talking about, you know I forgot that the first time people hear something they don't know, they don't know what to expect and they did not what us to spent any time talking to kept the show moving along.

Please forgive me in advance, but I must know what this sentence, particularly the highlighted portion of it, means.

I'm not trying to be picky, or critical. I just don't understand this grammar at all.

Eracer · #8 09-03-2008, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob1131

I have never played an open mic, but my first acoustic gig was an experience to remember. The year, 1971; the city, Agawam, MA; the place, The Red Baron Lounge (RBL). My wife and I were just two kids who thought they were getting their first break into the music business. We had answered a newspaper ad wanting a small live music act, and scheduled an audition during daylight hours with the club owner, manager, and head bartender. They liked us and hired us for Friday and Saturday nights for one month.

Now, I have to repeat, we were just two kids...two unexperienced, innocent, scared, thrilled, stupid, 18-year old kids. We didn’t know that you must check these types of places out during their “normal” business hours. We hadn’t a clue that you really need to assess the clientele to be prepared for what they might want to hear. As it turned out, the RBL was THE OFFICIAL hangout for the local chapter of the MOTHERS motorcycle gang!

This was not your local, nice, “let’s-sit-down-and-have-a-cup-of-coffee” type of place. Oh no, this was not a “I’ll-have-a-glass-of-your-best-Bordeaux” kind of place. Oh no, no, not the Red Baron Lounge. This was a good-time, brawl-ready, shot & a beer dive, and THEY were just waiting for NEW entertainment to arrive! Our first song was “For What It’s Worth.” When we got to the line “There’s a man with a gun over there” one of the patrons at the bar displayed his sawed-off shot-gun and exclaimed that he had a gun, too! That’s when this, I mean yours truly, stupid kid stopped playing and said “oh, s___t” while thinking, what have we gotten ourselves into? Well, when I stopped playing, the place fell silent, and my softly spoken comment of despair and regret was broadcast loudly over the microphone!

The following 10 seconds of silence were the most stressful seconds of my life, when the whole place burst into laughter! It was 1971 and public profanity was not normal! What we had, unknown to us, was a very effective ice breaker. The rest of the night was fantastic – kind of like an English pub where everyone has a pint in hand while singing songs that everyone knows! We became unofficial mascots of the Mothers and kept playing there every Friday and Saturday night for the next 6 months!

That is an awesome story!

Eracer · #9 09-03-2008, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lofapco

I think "what" is supposed to be "want" in the sentance.

That still doesn't explain it.

With the substitution it reads:

...they did not want us to spent any time talking to kept the show moving along.

sarNz · #10 09-03-2008, 02:24 PM

"They did not want us to spend any time talking in order to keep the show moving along"

marcus_ano · #11 09-03-2008, 10:40 PM

I remember visiting Boston around 1994 and deciding to go to an open mic close to town (Concord) with my trusty Taylor 712c. I was really nervous and remember this nice guy asking really good questions about my guitar before I went on. I played a song of mine (that I now think is pretty BAD) and then relaxed (phew!) and enjoyed the other acts; the guy with the questions ended up being Peter Mulvey & he was amazing.

Many years later of playing open mics, I believe, if you keep your expectations low, they can be lot of fun. You might make some friends, you get stage practice, you can start working on playing new material live, etc... I think the most important (and often hardest) thing to do is leave your ego at the door - it should NOT be a competition. Some acts will be painful to hear (usually the newbies like I was) and other acts will be wonderful and make you wonder what the hell you are doing there (like I was when hearing Peter Mulvey). But regardless, it is mostly filled with people who enjoy music!

Sorry for rambling, but you should try them out and give them a few times for even the same ones can vary greatly depending on the night (maybe TV is blame for the high variance).

best,
Marcus

Bob1131 · #12 09-04-2008, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eracer

That is an awesome story!

Thanks...it was a very memorable experience, and one that taught me many important lessons! From that time on, I always checked out the audience at a prospective gig before I contacted the establishment, and Deb and I created a series of ice breakers that we could use to lighten up a crowd. They ranged from a couple of short humorous kits, to a joke or two, to a seemingly unintended curse word (patterned after the original experience) in response to something that would happen or that we would artificially create or act out.

g6120 · #13 09-04-2008, 12:07 PM

Well I decided to do my first open mic on 6-15-07 at a local coffeehouse pretty much the day of. I went in and signed up early then went home and tried to decide what i was going to play. I know so many songs I simply did not know which ones to play. I fooled around in my backyard for a while and then decided to hell with it. I'm just going to play songs I know really well and decide on the spot because I didn't know how many they allowed.

So I took my guitar and put a capo in my pocket. Got up to the mic and mumbled "well folks this is my first time doing this so we'll see how it goes" Then I launched into the Buffalo Springfield song For What It's Worth and to my utter horror I realized I could not hear my own guitar and was panicking inside but kept playing. So I decided to keep just playing by feel and memory and hoped it sounded OK. So I started singing to the timing of my chord changes (since I couldn't hear the chords!) and by the second verse I was comfortable with the memory method.

When I hit the ending chord and looked up there was a roar of applause and I realized that everybody in the house had actually been listening to me play and sing. That gave me a boost so I played Cowgirl In The Sand, Hello In There and Can't Find My Way Home and got great reaction to each. Once I got used to the amplification factor I was fine and the crowd response really helped me.

So that was my approach going in without a set list and deciding what songs to play on the spot choosing only from the songs I had been playing for years and had memorized. My wife took a video and when I watched it I was surprised that I wasn't off time on that first song. Good thing for muscle memory.

g6120 · #14 09-04-2008, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob1131

I have never played an open mic, but my first acoustic gig was an experience to remember. The year, 1971; the city, Agawam, MA; the place, The Red Baron Lounge (RBL). My wife and I were just two kids who thought they were getting their first break into the music business. We had answered a newspaper ad wanting a small live music act, and scheduled an audition during daylight hours with the club owner, manager, and head bartender. They liked us and hired us for Friday and Saturday nights for one month.

Now, I have to repeat, we were just two kids...two unexperienced, innocent, scared, thrilled, stupid, 18-year old kids. We didn’t know that you must check these types of places out during their “normal” business hours. We hadn’t a clue that you really need to assess the clientele to be prepared for what they might want to hear. As it turned out, the RBL was THE OFFICIAL hangout for the local chapter of the MOTHERS motorcycle gang!

This was not your local, nice, “let’s-sit-down-and-have-a-cup-of-coffee” type of place. Oh no, this was not a “I’ll-have-a-glass-of-your-best-Bordeaux” kind of place. Oh no, no, not the Red Baron Lounge. This was a good-time, brawl-ready, shot & a beer dive, and THEY were just waiting for NEW entertainment to arrive! Our first song was “For What It’s Worth.” When we got to the line “There’s a man with a gun over there” one of the patrons at the bar displayed his sawed-off shot-gun and exclaimed that he had a gun, too! That’s when this, I mean yours truly, stupid kid stopped playing and said “oh, s___t” while thinking, what have we gotten ourselves into? Well, when I stopped playing, the place fell silent, and my softly spoken comment of despair and regret was broadcast loudly over the microphone!

The following 10 seconds of silence were the most stressful seconds of my life, when the whole place burst into laughter! It was 1971 and public profanity was not normal! What we had, unknown to us, was a very effective ice breaker. The rest of the night was fantastic – kind of like an English pub where everyone has a pint in hand while singing songs that everyone knows! We became unofficial mascots of the Mothers and kept playing there every Friday and Saturday night for the next 6 months!

great story! I just noticed that you and I both decided to play For What It's Worth at our first open mic!! I chose it because I know it well, it's easy to play and I thought it would be a crowd pleaser and it sure was!

Bob1131 · #15 09-04-2008, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by g6120

great story! I just noticed that you and I both decided to play For What It's Worth at our first open mic!! I chose it because I know it well, it's easy to play and I thought it would be a crowd pleaser and it sure was!

....although 36 years apart! I'm glad to hear that it is still a crowd pleaser! It certainly was back then when I played it. BTW - The reason I opened with it was the same as yours...easy to play and easy to sing!