History of This Blog
This blog was started in January 2006 at the same time that Simon Bull started the new open mic night called 'The Quantum Lounge' (at Newtown RSL). Sadly Quantum Lounge is no more, however since then the mission of this blog has been to meaningfully document the creative performances of fellow musicians and artists in the local Sydney open mic scene that grew out of it.
During that time the blog has focused mainly on the following regular open-mic events:
| From June 2009 to the present |
Music Lab at The Town and Country Hotel, St Peters |
| From April 2007 |
YourSpace at The Sly Fox, Enmore |
| From Nov 2006 | YourSpace at The Shannon Hotel, Chippendale |
| Blog started on Jan 16th 2006 |
Quantum Lounge at Newtown RSL, Newtown |
Click here to go to the full blog index now
Many thanks to all my friends whom I've met through the open mic scene since 2006. Special mention goes to Brenden, Martin, Marnie, Tim, Ben, Leyne, Rex and Simon. I look forward to many more collaborations in the future. These days Leyne and I each run our own open mic nights and you can find links to both of them below. So it looks like there will be no shortage of opportunities to keep on rockin' for the forseeable future. Yay!
Music Lab - Open Mic
Started in January 2009, Music Lab is a friendly musicians open-mic/jam night held 7pm every Thursday at The Town & Country Hotel in St Peters where everyone is welcome.
Music Lab is a place for local underground artists, looking for somewhere to get together and create some monsters. Hmmm! Maybe not monsters but let's just say 'conduct secret musical experiments'.
YourSpace - Open Mic
YourSpace Muso Showcase is a weekly night of FREE live music & performance running every Wednesday night @ the Town Hall Hotel, Newtown.
Each week 10-13 bands, duos & solo acts grace the YourSpace stage from 7pm til 12am. Booked acts are followed by an open stage Jam Session to cap off the night.
All genres & levels of expertise are welcome & applauded
Genre-jumping & sub-culture clashing are the only things that are standard.
Starting off as a simple open mic night in Newtown way back in 2006, YourSpace, now heading into its 3 rd year of existence has morphed into a rarity in the Sydney scene, with a wide range of performers on show, not just solos & duos but full bands, along side poets, magicians, spoon-players and more - all greeted by a regular fan base of supporters.
The YourSpace stage hosts all kinds of acts, artists trying out new material, bands making their live debuts, along side sets by performers who regularly gig around Sydney.
YourSpace also features art of the visual, textual and tactile kind with drawn, written and plasticine artworks being created by the audience whilst being entertained by the onstage performers.
Each creation is photographed and/or scanned & are uploaded for display via our MySpace page: www.myspace.com/getyourspace
Bookings to play YourSpace are taken on a first-in-best-dressed system via an online calendar. The only rule is that all performers are over the age of 18. This results in the eclectic, anything goes vibe of the nights with funksters taking the stage after folkies, punks along side prog rockers and rappers following rockers.
Bookings need to be made well in advance, with the YourSpace Calendar regularly booking out at least a month ahead.
Visit the YourSpace MySpace for booking info, artist mp3s, YS artworks, performer links, upcoming gigs & more
Quantum Lounge - Open Mic
Beginning from January 2006 at Newtown RSL, this is where is all started for me and where I first met many of the people I've come to love since then.
Brainchild of genius visionary Simon Bull, Quantum Lounge was an optimistic bid to heal the planet through pyramid like philosophy. Who knows ... Maybe it's actually working! But sadly Quantum Lounge as such is no more, although the spirit lives on in a number of current institutions. I'm sure we all passionately await the triumphant return of Dr Quantum some day soon.
