The Night Owl

Cool place. The open mic is popular but needs some work. The venue is amazing, the people are amazing but the way they do the list is ridiculous. I’m all for giving newcomers a shot but you have to limit it or what’s the point of ever returning? If you’re not new you basically have to be there around 5 PM to secure a decent spot on the list. Why bother? You can go to at least 5 other Tuesday mics in a 30 mile radius and, while you might sacrifice a little in quality, at least you’ll get to play (and often more than 1 song). I would limit the shenanigans to the first 10 newcomers based on who got there first. Everything else should be first-come, first-serve. An open mic where you get 1 song should not be a 5-6 hour venture—though people seem to be willing (for whatever reason). Someone should crunch the numbers; they could probably adjust frequency and/or add a cover/minimum purchase and still turn a profit after all the PROs fees. If is your first time, I highly recommend it as the venue is wonderful and professional and the audio setup is great. Really the only issue here is that the mic is so desirable that you can hardly get in on it because newcomers flood the scene; it just makes me wonder how or why anyone is dedicated enough to be a “regular”. As for the eatery itself, the desserts were very good and the people were extremely friendly.