Brad Spurgeon's Blog

MELBOURNE – Is “quiet” the kind of word you want in a headline about a visit to an open mic? Perhaps. Last night, I was really tempted to go to the fabulous Balaclava Hotel open mic that I attended for the first time last year and where I found an amazing, dynamic, lively and hip atmosphere. But I said to myself, this worldwide open mic adventure – like life itself? – should not be about always going to the same places and doing the same things, but about discovering new things. So I looked up on the various sources what other open mics exist in Melbourne on a Thursday night. I found yet another within a short walking distance of my hotel on Church St. in Richmond, the Station 59 open mic. And I went.

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.

Upon returning, I found a colleague/friend from the F1 paddock who had come to meet me at the open mic, his second open mic of one extreme or another (as the previous one had been in a riotous, raucous open mic in Montreal), and a crowd of five spectators.

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….

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