The first Takoma Park Open Mic in the new space (Capital City Cheesecake) was a huge success. 19 performers, a rough count of 67 people – it was huge, varied and full of talent. Most of its location but I certainly don’t want to sell the work that Dave and I have put into it short.
Now if only I felt confident bugging people about ilyAIMY the same way I bug people about a local music event like my open mic, mayhaps we could be HUGE!
For the first time at any open mic I’ve ever been to: a Turkish saz! An electric saz no less! This at the first Takoma Park Open Mic at its new space at Capital City Cheesecake. Dan Robinson and Bruce Leibovitz performing. And of course, regular TPOM artists Buddhambira made a strong showing. We’d all been feeling the lack of our open mic over the past month and a LOT of performers came out with guns blazing. And in this case, with mbiras a’rockin.
In any case, I’m not going to go on about it TOO extensively – the video says it all, and I’ll post pictures of course – but if I start writing I’ll probably talk more about the problems, which were things that weren’t so obvious.
Politics were a problem. Lots of people wanted to know more about our departure from Everyday Gourmet, which – what’s there to say? I wish them well and I think things will work out for the best. There were some faces that had been regulars that probably won’t be regulars at the new space – and that’s okay too. There’s enough places and spaces and days of the week that we can ALL be somewhere where we WANT to be and don’t have to step on one another’s toes.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Spectacularly charismatic, the ukulele duo Lelehuna popped in after spotting our advertisement at House of Musical Traditions. Playing ukulele bass and a tenor, they were charming with perfect harmonies, great jazzy riffs and a practiced patter that even allowed for a momentary picture-posin’-pause in the middle of a song.
Gear was a problem. My brand new TH15A Mackie Thump didn’t make noise. We tried connections, wires, wiggled things… Dave gave the speaker a thump (figuring that maybe the name of the product was less a descriptor and more part of the manual) and that got it working. I had a mic stand die half way through the show. While breaking down I set the Thumps down next to one another and immediately lost track of the one that had failed…
But it was an incredible night. I was the guy I WANT to be! (the difference in a rob stressed out and fed on tater-tots vs a rob who’s been fed cheesecake and caffeinated tea all night is huge… I LIKE me on a sugar high!). There were diamonds and rough diamonds and an audience that was willing to watch (and help) all of the above shine. ilyAIMY rocked the Hell out of the room and we managed to open and close the night, sort of the way I wish I could always have it. The vibe is right, the set up was right, the gear WILL be right once we track down the loose connection…. Sundays are going to be incredible.
(I shouldn’t make assumptions, everything could implode next week, but I’m suddenly really, really looking forward to it!)
In other news… HOLY SHIT it’s September!
