strange day at the mill
anti meridian
your humble fireseed plies his trade as university lecturer
exposing innocent teenage minds to the evils of civilisation
post meridian
your favourite blogger assumes the role of responsible father
taking his darling daughter to the polling station
to place an 'X' for the greens on his ballot paper
vote 'no' for a city mayor
and educate her in matters of democracy
come nightfall
your popular singer-songwriter is back at the prince in cambridge street
after a lengthy absence
debuting a song he's just finished writing at the bar moments earlier
it's a crazy idea on a crazy night
as i'm waiting to go on
the place is suddenly mobbed by a crowd of scary-looking skinheads
darts fans from somewhere up north
chanting 'barmy army' at the tops of their voices
it would be an intimidating atmosphere
even if you're sensitive tunesmith wasn't about to hit the stage
but by a stroke of good fortune
the storm clouds part
and the sun comes out
the crowd clears out just as suddenly as it arrived
as I finally strap my guitar and stride up to the microphone
i thank my lucky stars
i wouldn't have liked to refuse a request from that lot!
the remaining punters get a rather loose version of 'relationship'
which sounds to me like all voice and no guitar
it's hard to get a sense of the overall sound at the prince
but the pa seems to emphasise the vocal and i find myself popping the mic
then i do something foolhardy
placing my notepad on the music stand
i announce to anyone who's listening that i am going to sing 'the great game'
the song i've been working on for the last day or two
and just scribbled out some lyrics for moments earlier
it's not at all bad considering
and gets some positive reaction from john the host
i've quickly learnt that this is the great thing about open mic
it's all about taking risks
improvisation
experimentation
pushing the boat out
i finish with 'coming home'
and spontaneously improvise an ending
singing the praises of the pub
and its status as the best open mic venue in the city
again this goes down well
then i'm back out into the streets and the rain
running for the last train
(i'm always running for the last train!)
No comments:
Post a Comment