I Hate Mornings

Like the dork that I am, I turned up on time for the open mic night at “The Ex”:http://www.thex.co.uk/. The listings said 8pm. I nursed a pint of “Hobgoblin”:http://www.wychwood.co.uk/ and read two issues of “(title)Nightshift”:http://nightshift.oxfordmusic.net/phpbb3/ until James the sound man arrived in a “Marconi’s Voodoo”:http://www.myspace.com/marconisvoodoo hoody and announced that he was running the night because “the landlady’s got rabies.” Not a good start.

h3. The people

Despite the shaky intro, it ended up being as fun as an open mic can be on a Tuesday night. Some old guy with a beer gut plays Ry Cooder covers on a spotless 12-string; some young guy with a beer gut plays %(title)The Drugs Don’t Work% on a spotless 6-string; James the sound man plays %(title)Dungeons and Dragons%-inspired metal and complains that acoustics aren’t as good as electrics. I made it through %(title)I’ve Got This Funny Feeling I’m A Living Legend% and %(title)Dressing Up% on my battered Brazilian nylon-strung guitar with the fly stickers.

h3. More open mic reviews to come…

I plan to play a different open mic night every week for a while. Oxford has loads (a quick glance through the “(title)Daily Info”:http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/events.php?colname=Gig&period=7 gave me the “Bookbinders”:http://oxford.openguides.org/wiki/?id=Bookbinders, “Far From The Madding Crowd”:http://oxford.openguides.org/wiki/?Far_From_The_Madding_Crowd and The Ex, and I’m sure there’s one on George St on a Thursday), and I bet there’s a decent crowd of locals at each. Maybe I’ll start one at Wolfson…

h3. The verdict

On a standard night, when the landlady has recovered, I bet the Tuesday night open mic at The Ex is a good laugh. There’s a two-song limit, but if you stay late enough you might get another go. Top tips: bring a few friends to keep you company, and don’t get there before 9pm. Oh yes, and the last bus back to town leaves shortly after 11pm.