| Topic: | Biggest Open Mic venue |
| Author | Message |
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by: Tomteta
July 15, '05 6:52pm
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I am new to this forum and was just wondering what the biggest Open mic in the area is as far as the size of the crowd and place. I still have yet to check out the Moon and River Cafe, but will do so very soon.
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by: Valsfansrock
July 15, '05 7:01pm
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That's a tough question! The ones I've gone to so far are:
Perfect Blend, Delmar
Moon and River, Schenectady
Borders Books, Colonie
Daily Grind, Troy
Franklin's Tower, Albany
Purple Cactus, Coxsackie
They are all a lot of fun and I've met a lot of nice people at all of them. I don't know about the ones at bars because I'm not old enough. They are all different and have a different feel but I can't really say that one is better than another. 
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by: rkstar
July 15, '05 8:22pm
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The open mic at the moon & river is really big for its size... but since you can only fit 35 people in the moon & river... that's not that much. But we still get about 50 people passing through each night. Last year when we were at the Van Dyck we had close to 200 passing through each night. Another good all-ages open mic is at Caffe Lena on Thursdays.
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by: lyricaltobias
July 18, '05 4:42pm
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Caffe Lena draws a good crowd. They do have a nice piano there. I've seen some good shows in Lena before.
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by: victoriab
July 18, '05 11:19pm
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Oh Caffe Lena has been drawing almost too much of a good crowd lately - with 30-40 performers signing up, it's great to see it that popular, but somewhat of a letdown to make the trip and pay my $3 and end up playing only one song after waiting around for hours. I still go, I still love it, don't get me wrong, but I have to be accepting of the fact that when I go there, it's not so much to play as to meet up with other performers and hear some new stuff. It's amazing the people who stop by sometimes, you just never know what you might get to hear!
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by: Tomteta
July 19, '05 1:28pm
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Thanks for all of your information so far, but I ahve one more question. Does anyone know of any open mic competitions in the area/talent show type events that ever happen. I hear of alot of them in the city (NY) but never in the Albany area.
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by: m0mh0ckey
July 19, '05 2:48pm
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I haven't heard of any for the acoustic open mics but I know Jillians often has Battle of The Bands if you have a full band. In fact, they have one starting soon...I don't know if all the slots are taken.
That would be a cool event..."Battle of the Open Mics!" Hmmm....my brain is spinning....we should organize something to promote rkstar and maybe turn it into a fundraiser? My sister in law is on a foundation committee...let me float the idea past her. Maybe we could get all the open mic venues in the area to help sponsor it and turn it in to something BIG!
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by: lyricaltobias
July 19, '05 7:48pm
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You know that's a good idea.
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by: rkstar
July 19, '05 9:01pm
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I'm not sure about the idea of a "Battle of the Open Mics"... as they're not really supposed to be competitive. It would be cool to have some sort of open mic collective of sorts, but i have no idea how to go about something like that. And people don't necessarily go to different open mics because they're a part of that crowd, as much as everyone having different schedules, locations, what's most convenient for them etc. But any way... i'm open for listening to any ideas people have.
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by: m0mh0ckey
July 19, '05 10:55pm
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I'm thinking more along the lines of a benefit where we bring performers together from the various open mics...Valerie has met such a rich diversity of people from the different venues. I'm always amazed at just how many talented musicians there are around here. I know quite a few of the hosts so I think I could act as a hub.
Good friends of my sister in law lost their 16 year old daughter to cancer this past year and they have set up a foundation in her name. My sister in law had asked me about putting a show together like the Hockeypalooza event we did as a DIY. We only made about $200 that day but it was because of the nasty blizzard....I think something along those lines could be successful...kind of like what "Rock to Rebuild" did, only on a smaller, more open mic acoustic level.
Let me work on it a little and I'll see what I can come up with. Could be a lot of fun for a great cause.
Rkstars....let me hear from you! If you think this could work, give me some feedback... 
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by: lyricaltobias
July 21, '05 2:03am
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Momhockey sounds like a good idea. I'm for it. I'm sure piano and keyboard is ok for this. Yes it sounds exciting.
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by: tomteta
July 22, '05 8:55pm
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it sounds like a great idea. i dont know if anyone has access to one but i remember in high school we had a few concerts and battle of the bands type of things at our town hall. it was great.
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