Hosting an Open Mic

[Ross Brown]

My new band... all good players... We wanted to find a regular gig so that we would have a place to test drive some of our material, etc... A local venue where I have played many times agreed that it would be worth a try to have us host an open mic on Monday evenings... every other week fo a while and see if it takes off.

 

Any suggestions for making this a success? We will promote it and so will the venue... Beyond that... pitfalls? good ideas? Share your experiences hosting an open mic... things you have seen that you like, or don't like??

 

I have not hosted before...

 

Thanks

 

 

[jcadmus]

Two words: Signup sheet.

 

Two more words: Three-song limit.

[Ross Brown]

Thanks... got that already...

 

I guess I can't say "no jazz"...[ducks for cover]...

[jeremy c]

A few thoughts.

 

If there is a list, maybe let people you already know jump the list. Then you'll get the chance to play with them and they won't have to wait around all night.

 

Maybe have a time limit, rather than a song limit. There are plenty of soloists who will take 10 choruses of solos. There's 20 minutes right there. I've also seen singers get up and each one of their songs is actually a medley of songs.

 

Speaking of singers, I've seen open mikes taken over by singers. There are tons of them and they all want to sing ballads. If you let them do 3 songs, only one of them can be a ballad. And maybe never have two singers in a row.

 

If I am jamming, I don't want to be an accompanist. I want to jam and I want it to be high-energy music.

 

I know of one band that just decided to charge singers to sit in. They had a huge book of charts and the singers had to pick songs that were in it. They actually made a reasonable amount of money doing this.

 

 

[Ross Brown]

Thanks. Time limit.... hmmm.. yes.....

[Richard W]

Have you talked through how would it work for your band? Would you guys open and then the mic is "open?" Or would you play at the end? Are you the supporting band if someone shows up with just a guitar, for example?

[Ross Brown]

We are opening up as our band... then open it up to everyone else. We will support as best we can, if asked, but that is not how we will advertise it. We will invite solo acts and bands. We will try to match people up if they desire to have accompanyment (sp). We will have a definate plan once we discuss further as a band. Thanks

[picker]

It's all about organization. Keep it moving, with as few delays as possible.

 

1. People setting up and tearing down their own gear takes way too long and slows everything down, which bores the audience and make them want to go elsewhere. So, provide backline amps, and make using them at least a very strong preference. Have two guitar amps set up if you can.

 

2. Have the next batch of jammers to go up selected at least one song or preferably two before they go on, and tell them to tune up and/or assemble or whatever they need to do to be ready to walk and start tossing with as little delay as possible.

 

3. If the next guitarist(s) has/have pedals or pedal boards they just GOTTA use, it helps if they have them open and the cables plugged in before they carry it up to the stage. And, you can minimize the setup time by helping them plug in. But, if you can get them to, ask that they use the pedal board that's already plugged in.

 

4. It wouldn't hurt if the next batch has their first tune chosen, if not all three, before they get up. If you can get them together to confer and pick their tunes before they go on, it will save a lot of time.

 

5. 24 bars per solo, no exceptions. It helps if you can put one member of the band up with each batch. That guy can be the song boss, point to the next soloist, and generally prevent songs from turning into hour-long chapters of the neverending blues saga.

 

6. Keep bands who want to get up in toto to one or two a night, preferably one. That's an audition, not jamming.

 

7. Keep preferential treatment to a minimum. Yeah, if you have friends show up, it's fun to jam with them, but if your jammers don't get their turn because you and your buddies took all the time, they will not only stop coming, they will complain to their friends.

 

8. If some miracle happens and a big-name artist, local or national, shows up to sit it, cool, but you're gonna anger your jammers if they don't get a shot at jamming with him. Share the glory, don't take up the whole night trying to impress the Name.

 

9. IF somebody gets up and just can't play or sing, do not hesitate to take them off, but ONLY AFTER THE SONG ENDS. Don't subject your audience to any more off-key playing and singing than necessary, but don't embarass the poor dude/dudette by yanking him off in the middle of a song.

 

And last but not least,

 

7. Keep the volume level reasonable, so the waitresses can hear the customers make their orders, and the bartenders can hear the wait staff place the orders. This is especially important in a bar that serves food. If the wait staff and bar tenders gripe about you making it hard for them to do their job, you'll be out of there so fast you won't believe it.

 

Be organized, and be nice to folks. That's how it works.

[Ross Brown]

Tell me more about limiting Whole bands.... It is an open mic format, not a "jam". If I go to an open mic to play three songs or so with my band, I don't want someone else sitting in. If I go to a "jam" I expect that someone else will sit in. What is the pitfall of allowing whole bands to play an opne mic?

 

Thanks

 

 

[Regend]

don't charge. i don't think it's good practice to charge people to do an open mic. in terms of limiting bands, i think if you communicate to bands what their time limit is and set down some basic guidelines so the event flows it should work. noise level is key too. if it's too loud people will leave and that's never a good thing.

[The Bear Jew]

I ran an open-mic in Philly for five years.

 

You need to be clear about the kind of open-mic you want.

 

There are open-mic nights where there is a house band who plays a set, and other folks (drummers, bassists, guitarists, vocalists) come and sit in after the set. I think of this as more of a jam situation. The host moderates and helps the guests work things out with the band.

 

There are open mics where it is quite literally an open mic--anyone with some sort of "talent" can get onstage and do their thing. You wind up with whole bands, singer-songwriters, comedians, whatever. The host makes a list of performers and helps coordinate what they need to get onstage.

 

And then there are the permutations of these scenarios... and there are many. The open-mic I hosted involved my old band starting the night with a short set and then leaving our basic gear backlined for the evening's participants to use (or not use) as the situation dictated. If people showed up and wanted to jam, we'd do that. If people showed up with their own bands and wanted to do their own thing, that was fine, too. If they showed up with an acoustic guitar and harmonica, fine. We had all kinds of acts on that stage. It was all good for 20 minutes per act--do whatever you want on the stage for 20 minutes, as long as you don't trash anything that doesn't belong to you. I personally know a bunch of bands who met up and cut their teeth on those open mic nights.

 

My advice: stick to the time limits, and don't play favorites. First come, first served. Have everything you need for the different kinds of acts ready to go (several DIs ready for acoustic guitars or synths, lots of free mics for singers or acoustic instruments with no pick-ups, etc, etc.)

 

It also doesn't hurt for you (or someone) to be a sort of MC and act as a host for things. Tell the patrons who's coming on next, maybe remind them to tip the bartender, whatever.

 

Beyond that, I'd say let it fly. See what happens. Our open-mic went well because there was no cover, there were cheap drinks and the door-guy was fairly mellow about checking IDs. Also, like I said, I'd let almost anyone get onstage. As long as they didn't act like jerks, they were welcome to come back. If there is a college anywhere near your bar, advertise there.... and keep a very open mind about the acts it produces.

[Cthulhu Fhtagn]

+1 above.

 

Nothing to add.

 

One bar runs the "three song limit", another roughly 20 minutes depending on how many people are waiting and what the house band wants to do.

 

Stopped going to the "good" one a long time ago because established local bands would show up and get preference for stage time. The one-offs and the "jam guy without a band" got to sit around and watch and pay for drinks and not play. The established bands run in, play and leave then by 10:00 PM, the one-offs get tired of waiting and leave, then there's no one left except the house band.

[picker]

If I were to make a distinction between an open mic and a jam, it would be that I would expect more solo acoustic players and vocalists at an open mic. I would expect to see fewer bands there.

[Davo-London]

My UK experience seems to be quite different. I've never seen bands turn up and take over for a set. I've only ever seen one or two people show up and want to play together but as part of a mixed band. The house band needs to have a lot of covers under their belt and more importantly a couple of leaders usually guitarist/singers (alpha males) that can take charge. Then as each new grouping gets up, the lead suggests a song and off they go. No leader = chaos. I've played in a blues open mic, which is much more of a jam but again the structure is driven my nominating a lead.

 

Favouritism is massive turn off and i will walk if this is noticable. One place here in central London has 10% bass, 10% drummer, 70% guitarists and 10% singers turn up.

 

Finally, drummers/bassists tend to be less pushy and may need some encouragement, unlike guitarists who need only to be nodded and they are up there in a jiffy.

 

Sounds great fun. Don't let all these complications put you off. What an adventure!

 

Davo

[Chad Thorne]

If there is a list, maybe let people you already know jump the list.

Nothing at a jam pisses me off worse than this. I have been one of those guys the band doesn't know and, even if I signed up early, had to sit around all evening waiting for a chance to play.

 

We run our jams strictly democratically. When we get to your name on the list, you play. Not before. Not later. It's fair, we get a lot of interesting and fun results, and if the "local heroes" don't like it - f**k 'em.

 

[Ross Brown]

I will do sign up sheet and take in that order. Once I had a host bump someone ahead of me. I knew the guy/band that got the early nod. He is a well know local with a great frontman persona. He was doing a favor for the host band and venue owner by showing up to help get the event going. He did not want to jump the list but the venue owner insisted because she just "had" to hear him... He appologizd to me and my band and stayed the whole nigh anyway to support the other folks. Tha t was the only time I ever saw anyone jump the list... it would piss me off.

[Ross Brown]

We hosted our first Open Mic last night... I won't provide weekly updates but I thought I'd report on the first one...

 

One band showed up to play. Their drummer ended up not making it and they were not going to play because of it.... We talked them into having our drummer sit in and playing... He did great, they played 30 minutes (no one was waiting to play) and everyone had fun. I think they will come back. BTW, they were pretty good and should be gigging soon.

 

We played well. We played about 30 minutes then let the next band set up. When we got back up we had had a few requests from folks that wanted to sing with us.... Hey, it's an open mic... why not?

 

They requested songs for us to play so they could sing, only for us to find out that they did not know the songs... they just wanted to "sing along... and do harmonies.." Ha!.. We played several songs that we had never played together before. We did ok...

 

Our singer had one song in which she was sharp on in a big way... She knew it and wants to try dropping the key... She says she thinks she is hearing something that throws her off. When we do it with just bass and drums, she has no trouble... We will try to fix it, or drop it... Otherwise, she blew the crowd away(yes, there was a crowd).

 

The best part... I sang Sympathy for the Devil... the shirts came off and the dancers were dancing.... unfortunatley it was two dudes that took there shirts off.... but hey.... seemed like they were having fun... was a bit distracting... Bar manager was pleased and looking forward our return in two weeks....

 

One cool thing was also that I got recognized by several folks as the bass player for my last band.... It was nice.

 

Everyone seemed to like what we played and enjoyed something different at this local tavern.

[EddiePlaysBass]

*EddiePlaysBass likes this*

[Ross Brown]

oh yea... finally one of the guys that wanted to sing but didn't know any of the songs he wanted to sing finally sang the Star Spangled Banner.... That was a first for me... fun.... but a first...