There has been many musicians I have met that have participated in the Open Mic at South Side Johnny's. This famous name has many operations (different ownerships) in the US, and this local Toronto one is a fine establishment.
This Open Mic is on Sunday nights and starts around 10:00pm. The back up band is Phoenix, with lead singer Rebecca. She is very personable, has a very gutteral "Melissa Ethridge style voice and plays keyboards. The barmaids are young and bouncy, which is quite a change from some of the divier music establishments I have attended. The patrons are your basic bar personalities, and the crowd of talented musicians was quite low on this particular evening.
The unfortunate part of this jam, is the number of songs each artist gets to perform. Some can stay up for four or more tunes, making it quite a long night if you want to get into your set. The foundation of the band is quite good with excellent guitarists, drummers and keyboards.Unfortunately, this particular night their electronics died in the middle of a musicians harp set, just when he was starting to get into it.
In summary, I have good feelings about this Open Mic. It is more rock than blues. The good female vocalists and young barmaids, make it worth the outing.
If you are in the neighborhood, it is worth checking out.
If you are travelling from far, maybe think twice.
Rock On,
The Adventure Guy
No comments:
Post a Comment