June 14, 2017
Melbourne Skyline
If you are interested, read all about that on my updated Thumbnail Guide to Melbourne Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music, my first guide after the original one that was about Paris open mics.
April 3, 2016
Melbourne Skyline
I have added a new open mic – Station 59 – to the list, and updated some other details – including the changes made to the Great Britain Hotel open mic, so take a visit to my Thumbnail Guide to Melbourne Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music.
So check it out!
March 21, 2016
Plan B
I had chosen to go to the open mic of the Plan B bar, which I had found in a list of open mics in Melbourne, because it was within about 7 minutes walking distance of my hotel. But when I got there, I found the place pretty quiet, and I was told the open mic no longer existed, and had ceased about six weeks ago.
So I asked where I could find a restaurant in the area, and was directed to a Greek souvlaki place up the Bridge Rd. There was wine there, so between the lamb and the chips and the wine, I was fine. I then decided to go back to the Plan B to have a glass of cognac to finish off the night and digest the souvlaki.
When I got back to the Plan B and found that it is actually owned by a fellow Canadian, who has been in Melbourne for many years, I suddenly decided that since the place was fairly empty and it had a very, very comfortable back room with couches, brick walls and a fireplace, well, I asked if I could take out my guitar and just play quietly for myself. The man agreed.
I went into the back room – which was empty of clients – and I played my guitar and sang quietly, and drank my brandy – some kind of Australian brandy – and quite basically and simply found my personal batteries recharging with well needed energy. I sang a few songs, fingerpicked and pick-picked, and then after I finished the brandy, I packed up the guitar and returned to my hotel. I had just had one of the nicest moments alone that I spent in Melbourne. (Which excludes entirely the incredibly fabulous moments I had had with friends in the previous days!)
All in all, I realized it could only be called a Plan B for music at the Plan B bar….
March 18, 2016
Station 59
And that’s when I found what initially let me down, since the bar was virtually empty when I arrived. I cut out to find a place to eat, and ended up just down the street on Victoria and in the midst of a vast selection of Vietnamese and other Asian restaurants, a street in which, in fact, it seemed “Australian” food had been outlawed. So I settle for a nice big Pho. But I’d spent so much time looking for a non-Asian food restaurant – only because I thought I really ought to try Kangaroo – that I had to gulp down the Pho really phast… and get back to the open mic.
Again I did not despair because, in fact, the audience was fabulous, the reception in the Station 59 was mighty good, and after I spoke to the bartender/manager, I learned that the open mic was far from always being so quiet, that they sometimes had too many people to give a slot to everyone before the open mic finishes at 11 PM.
And on top of everything, Cam (for Campbell), the MC, was a fabulous host who made sure the sound system was perfect. So all in all, it was a nice laid back fun night with no stage pressure at Station 59. And ultimately, I was pleased to discover yet another Melbourne open mic, and to see that open mics are so much a part of the culture here that even if the open mic has a few down nights, no one pays any mind – it’s part of the deal….
March 17, 2016
great britain open mic joint in Melbourne
I’m talking about the absolutely fabulous stage in the back room that this place used to have, and which was one of the main features of performing at this open mic. They got rid of it. Imagine getting rid of a large stage with a kind of proscenium arch effect and everything, and putting in its place … a kitchen! The slightly open kitchen. How could they? And they replaced the stage with a kitty-cornered stage in the front part of the pub. A very small, kitty-cornered stage.
The new setup means that you can reach not only people in that back room – and kitchen – but also in the middle room, on which the stage also plays out to, and the front room (where the bar is, in front of the stage), AND to the people outside on the street. This is highly, highly preferable. In fact, it gives unknowns a chance they never had to attract listeners.
On top of that, they also changed the format of the open mic, and now it is broken down into half-hour sets for each performer. That’s fabulous! And if you happen to be a spectator and don’t like the performer, you can still seek refuge in the pool room off the other side of the bar, or in the back terrace outside, far from the stage.
I’ll be back! (If I still keep coming to Melbourne.)
March 14, 2015
Melbourne Skyline
I have, however, now added some new open mics to my Thumbnail Guide to Melbourne Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music, and removed some that have ceased to exist since I visited last year.
So check it out!
March 13, 2015
Balaclava open mic
Last night was the first time I attended this Balaclava Hotel open mic, and it was admittedly a busy night, with around 16 performers, but as the genial MC, Erik Parker, told me, next time I want to go I better contact him as early as possible to avoid being nearly last on the list. Still, it only runs until midnight, so being nearly last on the list is no big deal.
Last night it gave me the opportunity to see a number of the other amazing performers, including last but not at all least, Erik himself. What was really amusing, though, was that I struck up conversations with a Flemish Belgian who spoke little French, and a couple of French women on a work visit to Australia, and then after that I discovered a Quebecoise and her French-France boyfriend. So the accent on this very Australian open mic was very French last night, as the latter two persuaded me to sing a song in French, and I sang: “Et dans 150 ans,” by Raphaël. At the end of the evening, Erik then dove into his own rendition of a French song, “Je ne regrette rien,” of Edith Piaf – and it was sensational!
But most sensational of all is the atmosphere in this vast hotel pub with its bright lighting and sizeable stage for the open mic, at the front entrance to the pub. It is a vast, multi-roomed bar, but it still manages to maintain or create some kind of feeling of coziness and communication between spectators and musicians. And there was a broad cross-section of talents and styles, one of the biggest standouts of the night aside from Erik, being Corey Heuvel, a Canadian on a long visit to Australia.
Erik does a great job of organising it, very laid-back and smiling throughout the evening. And he even takes risks to do things he thinks are not possible, like the slot last night in which a full band of five musicians elected to take to the stage….
Really a fabulous evening, great vibe and a place I will definitely return to again next year, if I get back to Melbourne again….
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March 12, 2015
Mr Boogie Man Bar
So I get to this new venue that has been open for a year now, called Mr. Boogie Man Bar, and I find Fender Stratocasters papering the walls, and I find stuff like a poster for a Bob Dylan concert in Greenwich Village in 1960, and Rolling Stones photos, and Hendrix photos, and signed guitars, signed albums, all sorts of memorabilia, and a big stage at the end of the bar and a mic and a woman singing. And David, the guy who runs the place.
Mr Boogie Man Dylan gig poster
Mr Boogie Man Dylan scrapbook
September 12, 2014
Melbourne Skyline
March 16, 2014
Melbourne Skyline
This year, 2014, I have decided to finish all of the projects and tie them together into a consolidation of multimedia. As part of my personal impetus to gather it all together for myself, but also put it into perspective on this blog, I have decided to create a page for each city I have visited on the journey, tying together samples of the whole multimedia adventure linked to that city.
So here is the page devoted to tying together the pieces of the open mic adventure that I have lived in Melbourne, Australia since I first started here in 2009. At each subsequent Formula One race I visit this year, I will add a new such page. Keep posted….