D. M. Gremlin Productions - Forums

[D. M. Gremlin]

This is a thread to keep track of all the open mic nights around L.A. - anyone with any information about any of these please post here with your personal experiences and, if possible, any photos of the venue.

[wynnesome]

There's a great listing and discussion board for open mics here.

I'm going to a couple of them in Long Beach this week, and will post afterward how the events went!

[wynnesome]

Gremlin and I played at Portfolio's tonight... really cool place, great vibe, friendly people, and good performances.  We're for sure going back next week!  
It's not a long event... they put the sign-up sheet up just before 9, and it filled up quickly.  There were maybe 10-12 slots, but several were pre-filled in with acts that the hostess was featuring.  However, several people only did 1 song instead of the two allotted, and let a few people that didn't get to sign up go up for a song too.  
One duo, "Sandbloom," was particularly great... very inspiring.  Apparently there are several other regulars who are really good, that weren't there tonight.  Maybe we'll get to hear some of them next week.  There were quite a few people there for the first half or so, and then a few people left, but all in all, most of the performers stayed to hear each other, which was nice.  

As for the "coffee" part of the coffeeshop, I had some hot spiced apple cider with whipped cream and caramel that was great!  

Gremlin had the camera and got some pictures... look for those to come!

We're playing next at Coffeehaven, also in Long Beach, this Friday evening.

[wynnesome]

Friday, Jan 6

We played at Coffeehaven in downtown Long Beach.  This open mic has sign-ups starting by phone in the morning, which we didn't know.  So we were 2nd-to-last on the list.  That was ok though... we prefer to stick around and hear the other people who are performing, regardless.
This venue had a different vibe from Portfolio's... most of the acts were stand-up comics, but there were a few musicians, and either art form was equally accepted.  
This place is also right next to a leather/fetish shop, "The Crypt."  We walked in there before playing, and it's a pretty cool place too, at least if you're into that sort of thing!

Again, we had a good time, and we will go back and play there again.