Ghostly lighting (but GREAT sound system!) for OMN at Plum's Neighborhood Bar & Grill in St. Paul, MN.
After six nights camping (read: RVing) in northern Minnesota, I searched online for somewhere to play.
I found an open mic night at a Minneapolis coffeehouse simply called The Coffee Shop. Despite its smallish storefront, it had a surprisingly large back room for the show. The crowd loved my allotted three songs, and the host gave me a wonderful compliment after I played: "I suspect there are 30,000 people at Ordway Theater waiting for The John Davenport to perform. Luckily for us, he took the wrong exit and ended up here instead." Needless to say, this was a nice ego boost.
Afterward, I went to St. Paul to find Plum's Neighborhood Bar & Grill. Great bar, great sound system, and the host doubled as a great sound engineer. It also attracted a bigger crowd of musicians, limiting everyone to two songs each.
A "house band" consisting of a lead picker and bass player offered their talents to anyone who wanted them to play along. Several of the regulars brought chord charts for them. They were very good, so I invited them to play with me.
Most everybody before me played slower (and often beautiful) songs. I opted for a different approach and opened with "Beer and Pretzels for Communion." The crowd really came alive, and by the second chorus, I even got several "halleloos.”
I closed my two-song set with "Hot Pepper Tamale." Now I had the attention of several bar patrons not there for the OMN, and they joined in with the horns. The song received a huge applause, and almost everyone there stopped by my table to voice their appreciation.
I love The Twin Cities!
I found an open mic night at a Minneapolis coffeehouse simply called The Coffee Shop. Despite its smallish storefront, it had a surprisingly large back room for the show. The crowd loved my allotted three songs, and the host gave me a wonderful compliment after I played: "I suspect there are 30,000 people at Ordway Theater waiting for The John Davenport to perform. Luckily for us, he took the wrong exit and ended up here instead." Needless to say, this was a nice ego boost.
Afterward, I went to St. Paul to find Plum's Neighborhood Bar & Grill. Great bar, great sound system, and the host doubled as a great sound engineer. It also attracted a bigger crowd of musicians, limiting everyone to two songs each.
A "house band" consisting of a lead picker and bass player offered their talents to anyone who wanted them to play along. Several of the regulars brought chord charts for them. They were very good, so I invited them to play with me.
Most everybody before me played slower (and often beautiful) songs. I opted for a different approach and opened with "Beer and Pretzels for Communion." The crowd really came alive, and by the second chorus, I even got several "halleloos.”
I closed my two-song set with "Hot Pepper Tamale." Now I had the attention of several bar patrons not there for the OMN, and they joined in with the horns. The song received a huge applause, and almost everyone there stopped by my table to voice their appreciation.
I love The Twin Cities!
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