We’re Back! OOTB 407: 18 Jan 2011
We’re Back!
Finally, Out of the Bedroom number 407 is going to go ahead in our new home, The Montague (formerly known as The Maltings), on Montague Street. OOTB 407 will be on Tuesday 18th January 2011 at 8pm, and OOTB will be running on a weekly basis every Tuesday at 8pm after that. Our first night at The Montague will be entirely open mic slots but we’re hoping to bring back our trademark featured act slots very shortly too, and of course, this list is where you’ll hear all the details first.
Please turn up in person at The Montague by 7:30pm on the night if you’d like a slot in the open mic part of the evening, and since we’ve not been running the night for a while it’s worth quickly reiterating our house rules, we don’t sign up slots for people who aren’t there in person (ie: if they ‘phone ahead, or send a mate along with promises of being there later), and we ask that every performer performs only their own original material (specifically: no covers!). The slots are handed out on a first-come-first-served basis and amendments to this are at the discretion of the host on the night.
Okay, without further ado, let me get on with telling you what’s on this week.
Tonight (Tuesday 14th Dec) it’s the Inky Fingers open mic night at Forest Cafe, it’s for “not just prose and poetry and everything in between, but also songs, comedy sets, experiments and just about anything else.” and it’s run by a staunch Orkneyman named Harry Giles. Check their site first though, because he prefers you to get in touch prior to turning up i think. This month’s featured performers are Andrew C. Ferguson, a Writers’ Bloc regular and master performance storyteller, and Dave Coates, a “dark and deep” poet. Free entry, 8pm start i think.
On Wednesday 15 Dec (tomorrow), for a fiver, you can go to Joe Viterbo’s Christmas party gig at Sneaky Pete’s on the Cowgate, at 7pm, and Seneka will also be performing. Sounds like a high energy evening.
On Thursday 16 December, don’t miss “A Christmas Concert“, featuring Matt Norris and Caro Bridges, and from what i’ve heard, an enormous amount of other good, and familiar, performers too. It’s at The Lot (which is closing soon, in yet another sad Edinburgh gig venue closes story, so don’t miss this opportunity to go and see a gig there while you can) in the Grassmarket, it’s a fiver, but i suspect the amount of music and enjoyment will be worth far more than any amount of money. And it’s a 7pm start.
Okay, on Friday 17th there’s a Christmas Special at Noble’s on Constitution Street in Leith, hosted by Tucker and the Scattered Family. It will feature The Stormy Seas, The Douglas Kay Band, Pookah, Tucker & the Scattered Family, Ten Gallon Bratz and Paul Gilbody. It’s an 8:30pm start and it’s free to get in.
Also on Friday 17 Dec, at the Wee Red Bar (at the College of Art), for only £2 (if you buy your ticket in advance) it’s Curators, Scrap Brain and Jump Press A and Jump Press A will be recording and videoing for a live EP and videos, so get yourself into a piece of history! And it’s a 7pm start.Also on Friday 17 Dec, at Pilrig St Paul’s (which is a church, about halfway down Leith Walk, opposite the end of Iona Street), it’s the Stars In Their Eyes Christmas Special, starring Withered Hand, Broken Records, Meursault, Jesus H Foxx, Eagleowl and many more. It’s going to be special, because all the bands are dressing up and playing covers. It’s a fiver admission, bring your own booze!
On Saturday 18 Dec at 9pm you can go and hear a rare (though slightly less rare these days i hope!) solo performance by Peter Michael Rowan at the Captain’s Bar on South College Street. Last time i heard Pete was when he supported John Gomm, and i can say he’s well worth checking out. It’s free as well by the way.
On Sunday 19 Dec, it’s the final Listening Room of the year, with no featured act, due to it being the end of year special. No Listening Room for two weeks after this! So it’s well worth attending. It’s at the Blue Blazer on the corner of Bread and Spittal Streets, it’s free and it’s an open mic from 8-9pm and the featured act from 9-10pm.
And next week, there’s something very special on Tuesday 21 Dec (which is of course the Winter Solstice), out in Roslin, you can hear Lorraine McCauley and the Borderlands live in Rosslyn Chapel, with the proceeds going towards aid in Mali. It’s 7pm at Rosslyn Chapel, and there will also be performances from Souriba Kanoute (a Senegalese Kora player), John Langan (Celcit Connections open stage winner) and a 27 piece choir! It’s a 7pm start and tickets are £12, and are limited to 100, so do book now.
Until i do get round to starting some sort of separate section which just lists the regular stuff that happens every week, here’s pretty much a copypasta of last week’s list:
On Fridays at McEwans Ale House on Clerk Street from 9:30pm it’s the McEwans open mic night, a really good one. On Sundays it’s the Listening Room at The Blue Blazer on Bread and Spittal Streets, open mic (though there’s no PA and no mic!) from 8-9pm and a featured act from 9pm till 10pm. Then afterwards, also on Sundays, go along to Espionage at the top of Victoria Street for an open mic night beginning at 10pm run by Jason Kyrone. I’m assured it’s welcoming, endearing and ambient, so do go along. On Mondays, at the Captain’s Bar on South College Street, they have an open mic night (no PA, just one mic and an optional piano), starting at 7pm.
Also Jason Kyrone runs a weekly showcase at Espionage on Mondays (also at 10pm i believe, so perfect for going to after the Captain’s Bar). Also on Mondays, at the Parlour Bar in Leith on Duke Street at 8pm there’s an acoustic jam session, and in the same place on Thursdays theres an open mic at 8pm as well, with a free drink for every performer. On Tuesdays, the Captain’s Bar has the Mike Bennett and Kirsty Jacqueline Lingard Music Open Session, and they have folk sessions on Fridays at 8pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays at 4pm. Be aware there are a lot of other regular nights on. I’ll try and update you as best i am able.
In other news, you can now get the new single by Three Long Words as a CD single or a download, from iTunes, Amazon etc, or from going to see them live of course. More details on their website.
That’s about it, hope to see you all at some event or other before we wind down for a (probably snowed in) Christmas (and Hannukah, Solstice etc etc) and New Year season, and definitely hope to see you all at OOTB when we relaunch in January.
Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom