Testing One, Two, Three…

One of my favorite parts about summertime is that it is concert season; all the great festivals and many great artists come to town to take advantage of the weather and lift our spirits with their wonderful melodies. The bad part, though, is that all these concerts total up really quickly, leaving my wallet empty and my bank account in tears. Don’t do it, don’t do it…

SO anyways, after much contemplation, my anorexic wallet convinced me and I have decided to look for alternative forms of entertainment. And in a moment of sheer brilliance, I came up with this fabulous idea to visit as many open mic’s around the city as possible. Good company, tasty drinks, and cheap (if not FREE), but GOOD entertainment= this counts as a success in my book. Not only is this a good way to enjoy awesome entertainment with a good group of friends, it is also a good way to help local and emerging artists.

Entertainment can range from music to spoken word, from poetry to live painting. If you’re daring enough, try getting behind the mic– but remember, this isn’t karaoke night; try and at least be serious about your performance. Bay Area Open Mic Calendar has an awesome website that provides information on Open Mic opportunities around the entire Bay Area, and OpenMikes.com has an extensive list for available mic’s around New York.

Now, here goes a few shameless plugs for a few musician friends performing around town:

I hear local folksy guitarist Shaun David likes to hang around The Riptide on Monday nights (and even has a show coming up at the Stage Werx Theater on Wednesday, August 18). Get lifted by the reggae jams of Lifted Roots, who frequent the Rockit Room in San Francisco and the Vinyl Room in nearby Burlingame. Or how about that sweet, sweet John Mayer-style that Jean Marc Enriquez brings to the Rockit Room stage on Wednesday nights.

Haha, okay, I’m done now.

No but seriously, Open Mics: Ch-ch-check it out!

Photo Courtesy of SimpsonCrazy.com