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• 08.03.09
  Open Mic at Pirate Cat Radio Open Mics | (0)

  Among the many events on the bay area open mic calendar, we have had an after-hours one in a copy shop (Jungle Copy, now defunct, sadly), a music store (Epiphany in Marin, also gone) and a random street corner (16th & Mission, still going!) but as much sense as it SHOULD make, we have only ONE radio open mic and that one fairly recently started up: the Common Threads show on Pirate Cat Radio, 87.9FM in the city. I hopped on BART last Friday and went to check it out . . . Continue Reading...

  Tagged: diamond dave whitaker, open mic, open mike, pirate cat radio, radio cafe, radio open mic, san francisco, san francisco bay area open mic, the mission
  
• 07.31.09
  2 new open mics and misc new stuff Open Mics | (0)

  Holy mic-age, batman! I just discovered that my feedback form was, uh, broken. So I spent most of today combing through recent missives from y'all and replying. My sincere apologies if you've written me and heard nothing - this stoopid thing has been broken for aaaages, but it's fixed now! Cake and ice cream for everybody! Continue Reading...

  Tagged: bay area open mics, cafe lift, pirate cat radio, san francisco, san jose
  
• 02.23.09
  Bay Celtic Festival in Oakland
  and personal “Irishness” Lightholder Musings, Music | (2)

  I was down at the Bay Celtic Festival yesterday in Oakland. It was my first real excursion into the world of celtophilia since living in Ireland and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. When I got home that night and was describing my impressions to the wife, I mentioned the random folks dressed in renaissance costume, the panicked dodging of aimless, folk-dancing couples in the hallways and the bawdy drunken Irish pub songs being sung with almost religious, hushed reverence. "It was really bizarre," I mused, ". . . like an invented ethnic group borrowed from romantic ...

  Tagged: avalon, bay area, bay celtic festival, celtic, cullan's hounds, diane rowan, fir bolg, identity, irish-american, irishness, megan mcloughlan, oakland, renaissance faire, san francisco, sean lightholder, set dancing, shay black, tempest, Tuatha Dé Danann, west of shannon
  
• 02.21.09
  The Hotel Utah Open Mic Open Mics | (0)

  One gets so complacent in suburbia. Even the litter (pictured left) is more interesting in San Francisco. The Hotel Utah open mic has been at the top of many "best of" open mic lists for almost 10 years. For good reason, it's renown for attracting a highly talented community of performers and is one of the longest-running open mics (except for a small break in 2005 when it closed briefly only to be re-opened due to a deluge of protests). I picked an auspicious occasion to visit, as it was the Utah's 100th anniversary party. Continue Reading...

  Tagged: 200 pockets, bob o magic, el zakador, hotel utah, jj shultz, open mic, san francisco
  

recent posts

• Open mic web comic
• Essanay Open Mic, 12 Aug 2010
• Bay Street Open Mic, 2 June 2010
• Essanay Open Mic, 26 May 2010
• Essanay Open Mic, 12 May 2010
• Bay Street Open Mic, May 2010
• Essanay Open Mic, 28 April 2010