Tom Kerswill

Hi everyone,

Tonight there’s a free gig at Oddest, Chorlton, featuring John Herring, Kamal Arafa and John Lowndes. The night starts at 8.30 and it’s being put on by With A Little Help, to raise money for the Nordoff-Robins music therapy charity. It’s a completely free gig, but donations are welcome.

On Monday, we have the usual open mic night at Trof in the Northern Quarter, starting from 8pm – just turn up around then if you’d like to play.

And on Tuesday, it’s the brand new open mic at the Bay Horse, beginning 8.30pm — that’s in the downstairs bar.

Tom

Really excited to announce a new open mic every Tuesday at the Bay Horse, Northern Qt, Manchester.

The night will begin at 8.30pm… Three slots each. Just turn up and sign your name up to play. It’s in the area downstairs.

The Bay Horse is an excellent venue for gigs and open mics, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how this night turns out. Hopefully see you there later on this evening!

Martin Joiner’s been in touch via the blog, to promote a new open mic finder that he’s put together, using info from more regional blogs like mine. It looks pretty good, and allows you to track down open mics in a range of cities. You can also add / suggest new open mics.

Currently it includes open mics in Bristol, Bath, Newquay, Taunton, Leeds, Manchester and loads of others — there’s a bias towards South West towns at the moment but I think it’ll expand more nationally. Useful for bands who are on tour and have a few evenings free!

You can check out his open mic finder here.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Acoustic Eclectic gig in Stalybridge last night. Had a really, really good time. It’s a lovely atmosphere there, and a good place to play.

There was also an open mic session beforehand – players included Robin Mukherjee, Ed Turner, Jon Orpheus and Tony Ward.

On the subject of open mics in Lancashire, the Greater Manchester area, and further afield, I’ve just spotted an open mic in Todmorden, on Thursdays. It’s at a venue called Jack’s House. They’ve messaged me to say they’ve got new equipment, and will now record your performance for free. Slots are 15-20 minutes long. Might be worth checking out. Their next is tonight (Thursday 26th), from 8.30pm till 12am.

And, closer to Manchester, I’m now running an open mic at Bar One in Withington each Sunday. Last week’s was especially good, with a big turn out and a set from Nic Chapman (Hebden Bridge)…

And of course there’s the Trof NQ open mic in Manchester city centre each Monday.

Finally – don’t forget that Jon Gomm is playing this Friday, 27th November at Kro Bar. Also on the bill are Laienda (Bristol) and the Woe Betides (London / Birmingham). £4 in. It’s going to be a great night – can’t wait.

Hi everyone

We’ve got Facebook groups for both the Bar one open mic on Sundays, and Trof NQ on Mondays. Here they are…

Bar One open mic: Facebook Group

Note (20th Jan 2010) Bar One has now closed down, sadly — check elsewhere on the site for other Manchester open mic nights.

Trof Northern Quarter open mic: Facebook Group

Cheers!

Tom

Hi

I promised I’d post all the videos from the Trof Northern Quarter open mic. Well, here are the remaining performances:

• Ed Miles
• Glass Ankle
• John Ross
• Josh McClurg
• Krazy Horse
• Krystina Myles
• Mat Hutson
• Michael Cope
• Modern Alarms
• Nadia
• Robin Mukherjee
• Steve Sarsons
• Teemu
• Zara

Or you can click through to my site for the complete list of performances.

Artists – feel free to embed these videos in your own sites. You need to press the appropriate button on the video player and it will give you the code.

It’s the first ever Monday open mic at Trof NQ tonight (from 8.30pm). I’m really looking forward to it…

Apart from the change of day, it’s going to be very similar in format to the old Sunday open mic at Trof. So, three songs each, and anything goes!

Tom

Hi everyone,

We’re running two open mics in Manchester each week. First of all, tonight and every Sunday it’s the Bar One open mic, in Withington. Ollie will be running that tonight (I’m doing sound for Jeremy Warmsley / Milk White Teeth at Kro Bar).

Then tomorrow night and every Monday it’s the open mic night at Trof in the Northern Quarter. I’ll be running this tomorrow. Be there around 8-8.30pm to get a slot!

Tom

Note (20th Jan 2010) Bar One has now closed down, sadly — check elsewhere on the site for other Manchester open mic nights.

Hi everyone,

We’re starting a new open mic, every Sunday from 8pm, in Bar One, Withington.

We’re aiming to keep the vibe similar to our Sunday open mic in Trof Northern Quarter, which sadly will be coming to an end on the last Sunday of October. (The Trof NQ night will then run each Monday from November onwards).

Would be great to see you at the Bar One open mic this Sunday (tomorrow). We’re aiming for everyone to be able to play three songs each, but since it’s a brand new open mic, there may well be room to do a few more than that on the first few Sundays.

Or for people nearer the centre of town, head down to Trof Northern Quarter tomorrow, for the last-but-one Trof NQ Sunday open mic!

If you’d like to play either open mic tomorrow, drop me a comment below, or else just turn up around 8pm…

You can join the Facebook group for info on the open mic at Trof NQ. And we’ll be setting up a group for the new Bar One open mic shortly too…

Tom

Hi everyone,

Because of the bank holiday, Trof Northern Quarter have cancelled the open mic night we usually do there tonight. It’ll be back on next week.

As a replacement, I’d recommend Uluru’s open mic (Chorlton). Run by Ricky Damiani, it kicks of at 7.30pm. I’ll be heading down there, and there will be a featured slot from Passenger, of Brighton — they’ll be doing a 45 minute set at 9.30pm. It’s all free of course, and should be a really good night.

Tom

I’m running the Trof Northern Quarter open mic night in Manchester tonight, together with Ollie Smith. It kicks off at 8.30pm, and each slot is 3 songs long. Everybody’s welcome – it tends to be mainly musicians, but it’s usually pretty varied and we have occasional poets and comedians too. Slots often fill up by around about 9pm, so it’s worth getting down early if you can.

The Trof NQ open mic is every Sunday (except bank holidays). You can find out about other Manchester open mics elsewhere on the site!

Tom

Hi – I’ve updated the Manchester open mic guide for June 2009. Let me know if you have any feedback on it, or know of other open mics in the Manchester area. I also have guides for Liverpool open mics and Lancaster…

Tom

Yesterday I dropped into Uluru, in Chorlton, to check out a new open mic they’ve got there. Weirdly, the venue has open mics on a Sunday (run by Ricky) and on a Monday (run by Mike). I dropped in pretty early, and it was very quiet there. It was a nice atmosphere though. I bumped into Kamal Arafa (who’s a well-known Manchester musician, and recently played a live session on our All Fm radio show), and also managed to catch a set by Ollie Smith, who played some really great songs.

Ollie used to be in the Deadheads, and also co-runs the open mic at Trof in the Northern Quarter on Sundays.

Definitely worth checking the Uluru open mics out… It seems pretty quiet for now, but I imagine it’ll build up. It’s always a nice vibe in Ulruru, too. I’ll be back to check it out (when I’m not rushing off to do a radio show…)

Tom

I hosted the Deaf Institute open mic on Sunday. I was standing in for Phil, who normally runs things. It’s the first time I’d made it to the open mic night there (I’m usually running the one at the Northern Quarter Trof on Sundays)… And I really enjoyed it.

Things get going there around about 9pm, and in this case it went on till after 12am, though I think things usually would wrap up at 11. It was one of those nights where, just as things were drawing to a close, another musician or band would walk into the venue with guitars, and we’d start again.

One of the highlights was a set by Optional Wallace — who then went on to take part in a jam at the end of the night.

I’d recommend it as a good Sunday open mic – together with the other nights on a Sunday (recommended open mics on a Sunday include: Trof Northern Quarter, Uluru, Bar Brau and Joshua Brooks).

Update, 26th November 2009: Pleasure bar didn’t reopen, but a new sisha bar opened in its place. It looks really nice in there, but I haven’t been in yet. And of course, there are no open mics. But just down the road, there is still the Fuel open Mic every Wednesday. And there’s now a new open mic every Sunday, at Bar One, Withington. On with the original post….

I’ve been hearing various rumours around Manchester, that Pleasure Bar in Withington is to reopen. Or maybe even has reopened. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I was at Fuel doing sound for the Mushaboom last night and didn’t hear anyone saying it’s reopened yet… it used to be a Withington institution…

But today, Mat has posted a comment on my guide to Manchester open mics suggesting that it’s reopened and there’s now an open mic on Mondays again. Could this be true? Or just the MEN getting their wires crossed? Who knows… If there’s anyone with any comments or info, please post below!

Hi everyone

I’ve created a Facebook group for our weekly open mic at Trof Northern Quarter in Manchester. Please join the group if you’re in Manchester and enjoy the weekly open mic there!

Tom

[Update May 2009]

Here is a list of the best open mics in Liverpool, following the success of the open mics in Manchester and Lancaster pages. This list will get longer as time goes on!

• Open mic – The Casa Wine Bar, every Monday from 8pm
• Acoustic Slice – Mondays – Parr St. This is an acoustic night but we think it still has an open mic element too.
• Liverpool Lighthouse – every Tuesday – Oakfield Road, Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, L4 0UF – 0151 476 2342
• Acoustic Engine at Viva – every Wednesday – 8pm
• Trailer Trash at Barfly Bar – Saturday 2-6pm – 07729272748
• The Pilgrim – Sunday evenings. I really like this venue – it’s got a great atmosphere – especially good for acoustic gigs.

Know of any other acoustic open mics in Liverpool? Let us know!

.. And as always, please do always check with the venue before traveling!

[Last updated May 2009]

Building on the other open mic guides for the North West, here’s a run-down of open mic nights happening in Lancaster. Post a comment if you know of any more…

(Thanks very much to Rob Thompson for his help with the info on this)

• Every Tuesday – open mic at Golden Lion in Lancaster.
• Every Wednesday: Acoustic Sessions at The Stonewell Tavern, Lower Church Street, Lancaster. Free
• Last Sunday in every month – The Gregson Centre on Moor Lane, Lancaster.
• Last Wednesday every month

– The Kenlis Arms “singers’ night” open mic. Usually gets very busy – country pub just a couple of miles east of Garstang

I’ve got lists of other open mics elsewhere on the site, including ones in Manchester and in Liverpool.