Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Is this thing on?


(Video is of the wonderful Nate Pace)
In Hampton Roads -- which is not over burdened with live music venues devoted to original music -- open mic nights provide an vital function, giving new acts a place to try out their tunes in front of a live audience and giving weirdos whose music is not exactly commercial a place to shine. And I'm always on the look for new weirdos, be they roots rock, indie, experimental or folk oddities. I've been one of the weirdos performing in some cases. In other cases, I've been one of the supporters in the audience.
I've been meaning to do some research about open mic opportunities across Hampton Roads. Coincidentally, my like-minded MySpace friend Grumbada's Favorite Local Bands today reported that these open mics are happening tonight and, I assume, most Tuesday nights:

Tanners Creek, 5103 Colley Ave, Norfolk 423-2430 (10pm)
The Boar's Nest, 4502 Monarch Way, Norfolk 961-5465 (10pm)
Abbey Road, 22nd & Atlantic, Va Beach 425-6330 (8:30-12:30)
Retro's, 11135 Warwick Blvd, Newport News 660-9553 (9pm - Soapbox!)

To that list, I'll add these:
Goodfellas, 13 E. Queens Way, Hampton 723-4979 (Tuesday nights)
Hat Trix, 24 N. Mallory, Hampton 726-0820 (Wednesday nights)
Goody's, 11 E. Queens Way, Hampton 722-3662 (Wednesday nights)
HK on The Bay, 4600 Lookout Road, Virginia Beach 605-3024 (Sunday nights, I think)

Anybody know about other good ones? Please post some comments and I'll follow up with another post.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As far as I know, Marker 20 in Hampton is still doing Thursday open mics. Also, a pretty wild place in Portsmouth called The Barrel has open mic twice a week - on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I plan on making some of these rounds in the coming weeks. Thanks for the list, Sam!