openmikes.org

UnUrban Coffeehouse

Upcoming Dates ?
Fri, Nov 21
Fri, Nov 28
Fri, Dec 05
Fri, Dec 12
Fri, Dec 19

SongWriter Soiree
Every Friday at 7:30pm

Hosted by Michael Silliman

3301 Pico Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA

310-315-0056

I was blasting through town, and thought I'd stop at this open mike. Very nice atmosphere, good music, and a nice host, David, who is a formidable piano player. All sorts of interesting personalities, and a range of talent and music. What was really cool is that folks actually listened to each other, except for one flute player outside on the street. Very nice open mic! Highly recommended.

ukeforever (3/2008)

i stared playing at 50 yrs. of age at the unurban coffee house. i have a bad case of stage fright. steve and peter were very nice. peter told me "just have fun". having no political or past relationship with anyone affiliated there i was still embraced by there warm and kind demeanor. i played hard and had fun as instructed. so come by and see me and the other great performers at the unurban. p.s. maybe try it twice before you critique a place 2 .

jeff mcpherson (2/2008)

I was there January 11, 2008 and had a great time. I was traveling, so I didn't have an instrument with me but saw some great musicians/songwriters. Everyone was friendly and I had a good time.

Jerry Gerace (1/2008)

To: The anonymous poster

You have concluded all of this based on the one night you came to the open mike?

There are actually now TWO hosts (K. and N.), doing ALTERNATE weeks. And in the future there will probably be even different hosts. I'll ask the other host if he can tighten the sails on his ship a bit. I would remember people being stranded at the end -- which hasn't happened on my nights.

Seems you got a raw deal if you didn't get to play at all. If the mike runs out of time (host's or counter's mistake -- too many tickets sold, for example; earthquake; P.A. failure; robbery and police on the premises), the host is supposed to sign the remaining people's tickets so that they can come back and play before 9:00 on ANY other future night WITHOUT having to pay (just show your signed ticket). In fact, we are supposed to announce at 10:30 if there is a likelihood of there not being enough time for everyone remaining -- in order to give the remaining players a chance to "opt out" and come back to play early. But the better strategy is to sell only 22 tickets max and to try to manage time as best we can. And if you didn't want a rain check, you should have got your $2 back. If hosts FORGET to mention opt out, just ASK to get your ticket signed after 10:30. The other host sometimes forgets things. . . .

Also, on my night, I have the PLAYERS choose tickets out of the bucket one at a time while I make up the list, so that people don't presume I'm exhibiting "favoritism" if I draw all by myself, and I am pretty sure that the host on the other nights isn't drawing "his friends" even if he does make up the list himself. So I'll suggest that the other host pass around the bucket during selection, so that people don't get the wrong impression again. . . . .

Lists being altered is another matter. If people want to play LATER than their draw, that doesn't bother me, since it benefits other people earlier on the list and it doesn't harm people later on the list. But if they want to be "bumped up" for some reason, that really should NOT happen. If the other host is having trouble saying NO,and PLAYERS are going back to their habits of asking for favors, that's a problem. (If you have to catch a plane at 10:00 p.m., you really shouldn't be going to the UnUrban open mike). And believe me, it is as much the PLAYERS' faults for ASKING (usually with excuses) as it is a host's for being unable to say NO. I'll definitely bring that up, AGAIN. A host has to be pretty tough to take the open mike musicians' version of water torture -- "ME, ME, ME, ME . . . first" (and they aren't just clearing their throats). And it isn't just the host's "friends" who do this; entirely new people come in and ask the host in the middle of announcing if they can be bumped up (complete with excuses about their children dying in the hospital). A small number of them do it all the time. Policy should be NO. . . .

The $2 has to do with RENT, by the way. When the rent was increased a couple years back (and again recently), the owner had to do SOMETHING to keep the doors open, even though she would rather have not (believe me, she would rather have NOT charged $2, which is less than the $5 that Highland Grounds used to charge -- and THEY don't even exist now). Running an independent coffee house isn't exactly as lucrative as owning Spago's in Beverly Hills. The UnUrban making $40 on a Friday night is a little extra rent change, especially when performers don't all patronize the counter (Synergy requires that you buy a $2 drink, by the way). . . .

I host 12/28, 1/11, 1/25 (remember, every OTHER week). If you did not get to play, come on one of those nights and tell me that you are the Infamous Open Mike Flamer (I'm joking) and I will put you on before 9:00, as we are supposed to do. Also, you can complain to the owner (but please be sure your story is clear) and it will get back to us, believe me, without us knowing who it was. I almost DIDN'T see your "anonymous" post here because I don't check this board regularly. We use Myspace. http:

www.myspace.com/unurbanopenmike . . . .

By the way, it is pretty hard to devote oneself -- chiefly for the benefit of others -- to running an open mike for five hours every Friday and to get everything "right" and to satsify everyone. Actually eight hours, if you include managing the Myspace. And the cost of buying mike stands and cables that hip hop poets break on other nights. And there aren't many people willing to do it FOR FREE. Generally, most people don't like making commitments (everyone wants to be "free" to do other gigs). Anyone interested should tell us at the open mikes, or contact us through our UnUrban MySpace (http:

www.myspace.com/unurbanopenmike) or through the UnUrban itself. The owner really decides. . . .

Definitely also try going to Synergy and the Talking Stick. We LIKE those people; they are our friends. They are less heavily impacted and

shorter open mikes, but they have also been going on a lot less long than the UnUrban, which is much more well-known, and sometimes impacted. The others are also much smaller audiences. The talking Stick has alternate hosts as well. Tom and Byron do a half hour set in the middle of their open mike. Ellen is the host on other days, if I remember. They are also sign-up rather than lottery. Synergy is signup (with a $2 purchase required) on Tuesdays, I believe. The host Johnny is moving back to Michigan, however. So I don't know who will be hosting in the future. . . .

P.S. "Into the Wild" was a good movie -- at least I thought so.

K. (12/2007)

Worst open mic I've ever been to. Throughout the night, the hosts struggled with the sound equipment and failed to get good levels. They claim that it's run by a lottery system, but if you ask the host, he'll move you up. The problem is, when he does this, it screws the other musicians. My name was drawn and I ended up near the end of the list. Several people came up and asked to be moved in front of me while I just sat and waited patiently for my turn to play, and by the end of the night, i didn't even get to play (I had waited around from 7:00 till midnight). I've been to other lottery open mics before (The coffee depot in Riverside, Ca) and none of them are run like this. The hosts here play favorites and dont give new artists a chance to perform, making us newcomers feel extremely excluded. Charging to perform is also a huge problem. Even though it's only $2, the coffeehouse probably brings in $40 a night on open mics. for some reason, this place was ridiculously crowded. For all the artists who play here, check out Synergy Café and the Talking Stick coffeehouse instead. The sound is better, the hosts are better and you wont get screwed over by the end of the night. The only good thing about this place is the coffee and the food.

Anonymous (11/2007)

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