here is one in every dorm hall and every apartment floor throughout America: a guitar leaning in the corner of the room when it’s not in use. That which can be picked up and for hours, without ceasing, play an amalgam of top-40 hits from the past two decades as well as lesser-known favorites. On their braver nights, these artists will throw in something they wrote between Dave Matthews Band and Blink-182 songs. The lost son of the dreamer and the struggling artist, these artists agonize behind closed doors to write the three-minute musical version of the next great American novel.
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The San Diego acoustic scene has long been known for nurturing this specific form of genius. Jewel sprung out of obscurity after hitting the San Diego open mic nights for over a year. The legend of the acoustic scene more recently drew Jason Mraz from across the country in hopes of using the San Diego music subculture as a springboard to stardom. Jack Johnson calls San Diego his home away from home. Stories like these have helped make San Diego to acoustic music what Seattle was to grunge.
The magic all starts on the small stage, at open mics all over San Diego. The average person can imagine no greater fear than bearing heart and soul in front of a room full of drunken strangers, but to the aspiring musician who finds himself doing exactly that, the dream of being the next big thing outweighs the fear of living a life void of taking chances. While there are a variety of venues that offer the open-mic experience, few offer an atmosphere as conducive to the experience as RT’s Longboard Grill in Pacific Beach.
RT’s Longboard Grill offers its open mic on Tuesday nights, more than a ploy to get people out of their house on the most unpopular night of the week. The last six weeks at RT’s Longboard Grill have featured an extended open-mic competition pitting San Diego’s bravest amateurs against each other in hopes of earning free time in a recording studio. The competition came to an end Jan. 20, judged by three local musicians in front of a large supportive crowd.
For those eager to mount the small stage and play under the not-so-bright lights, the process isn’t as simple as you may think. The San Diego music scene is so impacted with aspiring artists that those who run open mics often have to employ a lottery system just to determine who gets to play. Sign-ups usually start around 8 p.m. the night of the open mic, and time slots typically go as late as 12:15 a.m. The normal time slot usually runs around 15 minutes or time for two or three songs. This may not seem like much time to win over the audience, but there isn’t much time to annoy them either. People are listening: Local bar owners frequent open mics, looking for acts to play regular slots at their establishments.
A first-timer in these circles is referred to as a ³virgin,”” and the audience tends to go easy on them. From those who choose to return week after week, the audience expects a little more. Since virgins will usually play cover songs until they are comfortable enough on stage to play their own material, it is not unusual to hear the same song covered two or three times in the same night. This is a slight taboo in the open mic circles: It signifies not only a lack of originality, but also the fact that the performer wasn’t around for ‹ or wasn’t paying attention to ‹ the other acts. The seasoned amateurs will do something they are sure no one else will do. They show off their acoustic chops by adapting hip-hop favorites, entertaining and amusing the audience all at once. Last week at RT’s Longboard Grill, there were acoustic covers of songs by the likes of Snoop Dogg and J.Lo.
For those who go just to enjoy the ambience and the music of up-and-comers in the local scene, think of an open mic night as being like watching ³American Idol,”” minus the annoying British guy. Often the bad acts are just as entertaining as the good ones. Even better is that the show is live and it plays somewhere every night of the week. For a sample of open mic shows, look above.
