I played my first open mic night in New York last week at Mix Cafe in Astoria. I sort of got the bug for open mics after that. Here’s where I’ve played so far.

• Mix Cafe – Monday, July 5, 2010
• Shillelagh Tavern – Tuesday, July 6, 2010
• Waltz Astoria – Wednesday, July 7, 2010
• Hell Gate Social – Thursday, July 8, 2010
• Paddy Reilly’s Music Bar – Saturday, July 10, 2010
• Common Ground – Sunday, July 11, 2010
• Cronin and Phelan’s – Monday, July 12, 2010
• Shillelagh Tavern – Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Quick Reviews

• Mix Cafe: It’s really a piano-oke type venue, which I didn’t realise until I arrived. There were some really great singers there singing show tunes, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey type stuff. It definitely didn’t have the vibe of an “open mic” for other instruments but they were extremely accommodating, very nice, and let me play three songs. Attentive and complimentary audience.
• Shillelagh Tavern: Although promoted as “Terrible Tuesday – The Worst Open Mic in Astoria,” my first experience at Shillelagh was really good. They were celebrating Justin Finley’s birthday, a guy who started an organisation called Astoria Music & Arts. Lots of people present, very friendly, got to play six songs. Very diverse open mic, with lots of interesting acts ranging from acoustic guitarists to drumming poets to seven-string heavy metal guitarists. The host Darien let me use his guitar because mine doesn’t plug in. Lots of good compliments.
• Waltz Astoria: According to their website, Waltz has quite the open mic reputation. It is pretty much a coffee shop, and they do have a Steinway, but the sound system is awful! There are pretty strict rules, only two songs for musicians, yet ten minutes for poets and comedians. There is also a $10 drink/food minimum, which is actually $15 if using a credit card. The people, including the host, are nice, and there were a fair amount of them there. Good compliments. It just seemed a little strict. Fixing the sound and relaxing the rules would improve this significantly.
• Hell Gate Social: I really enjoyed playing here. It’s a very cool bar, with a modern feel. The staff were really nice, and the sound system was great. Very attentive, very well received. Cheap drinks, and a free drink for playing. Looking forward to going back here.
• Paddy Reilly’s Music Bar: This was the first open mic I played in the city. A pretty authentic feeling Irish bar, but with a pretty terrible pint of Guinness. There were two or three musicians there when I arrived, and although sign up hadn’t begun, they had already worked out spots with the host, who was a little irritating at times. He played the warm-up slot and then when the next act got up, he found a tambourine and started playing along out of time. I played a five song set and he, and the rest of the room was very attentive and complimentary. He told me to promote my upcoming gigs. They offer feature spots at open mics, so I may go back and look into doing one of these. Saturday is original material only, and the guy after me played a bunch of Jack Johnson. Odd.
• Common Ground: This was a lot of fun. After listening to Scott the host, who was a nice guy but falls into the category of “overly rambunctious host,” play some rather dreary and depressing material, I played about twenty minutes of stuff that went down really well, and was asked to keep playing more. The venue is cool, and the room was well suited to an open mic. I’ll check this one out again.
• Cronin and Phelan’s: I had no idea what to expect from this one. The website advertises the open mic as comedy, magic, music, and poetry, hosted by Dave the comedic magician. I arrived early to sign up first, but there was no real sign up sheet, more an order that Dave the host decided. As it turns out, there was a featured band, Vessio, playing earlier. Vessio are a boy of around 10 and a girl of around 12, both play the drums and guitar and switch out instruments. Really talented kids, but the set was way too long for an open mic with other performers waiting. I played after them. The sound system is pretty terrible, and feedback was a bit of a problem but to give credit to Dave though, he didn’t stop trying to remedy it. I played a twenty minute set, which went down really, really well. Probably the best reception yet, judging by the Guinness and Whiskey bought for me afterwards. Many compliments from the audience and other performers, and officially invited back for the next open mic in August. Very friendly bar.
• Shillelagh Tavern: Second visit to Shillelagh was a little quieter. I got there early and signed up first for the 9pm start as I had the week before, but nobody was there. It turns out that a band usually opens up this open mic, and then Darien plays a couple of songs as a member of The Tibetan Punks. The Shrimps, an acoustic duo who seem to have quite a local following, opened up and played for about an hour, which was a little tedious because you couldn’t hear anything they were singing. They did give out some CDs, and their stuff is pretty decent however. My six songs were cut to five due to time constraints, but it was still an enjoyable place to play. Not so many people there, but lots of decent compliments again.