'Live and Local'
every Tuesday at Ruby's Lounge, Belgrave
‘Live and Local’ is an open mic night which is held every Tuesday night at Ruby’s Lounge, a small bar in Belgrave. With free entry and cheap drinks, Tuesday nights at Ruby’s give anyone and everyone a chance to get up on stage and showcase their musical talent. I have always loved the concept of open mic, and have been going to Ruby’s ‘Live and Local’ nights for as long as I can remember.
Ruby’s Lounge is a brilliant little venue that tends to draw in large crowds and a heap of fans despite being almost 40km from Melbourne city. This is an excerpt from the Ruby’s Lounge website:
“Ruby’s Lounge is a band venue, bar, club, café, retreat, library, lost shoe repository, community drop-in clinic, and epicentre for the night life of the Hills. We have been running around flapping our arms for over 5 years and still the chaos reigns. Putting it simply, if you like brilliant original music, nice people, not being hassled or bashed and genuinely think the world is a pretty amazing place: then you will have a lovely time here.”
The bar has hosted an enormous list of renowned music acts, both Australian and international, and yet still continues to provide open mic nights free to the public, which I think is fantastic.
Last night I stopped by in time to catch about three bands, two of which were terrible and the other which was pretty mediocre – but that’s the beauty of open mic nights. While many of the acts that hop up on stage aren’t that phenomenal, you will occasionally be surprised by a young band or artist delivering a load of a potential. A few weeks ago a young heavy rock band from Gippsland called ‘The Day Late’ captivated me with a really enthusiastic performance, entrancing audiences and stirring up much interest in the small crowd. Talking to the band afterwards I found out that the lead singer had vocal lessons from Clint Boge of The Butterfly Effect. The young musicians are yet to release a recording, and are still very much amateur, yet getting up on stage at that open mic night was a showcase of the fact that they may possibly have potential. Being a small-time musician myself, I know that it does take a lot to get up on stage, and getting gigs is a very difficult process, as is the chance to showcase your music to a live audience. Open mic nights are a great chance for this to happen for up-and-coming music artists.
The reason why I love Ruby’s open mic nights is the atmosphere of the venue, as well as the variety of acts that get up on stage. I’ve seen both absolute rubbish and hidden talent, and almost every genre of music you could possibly think of. I’ve seen random people in the crowd just get up and sing something A capella, just to have a go. While some bands get up on stage hoping to promote and showcase their talent, a lot just get up there to have some fun. Tuesday night’s ‘Live and Local’ is almost an entertaining way of combining social drinks and jamming with your mates.
So if you’re ever in or around Melbourne, come by Ruby’s Lounge for a drink or five, make some friends and have a chat with people who love music, watch a few live performances, and maybe get up on stage yourself! Because open mic nights, wherever they may be hosted, are a great example of music communities that seem to be diminishing in the era of the Internet forum and MySpace page.
All photographs are from http://www.rubyslounge.com.au/