nothin Open Mic Keeps Outer Space Warm | New Haven Independent

Open Mic Keeps Outer Space Warm

There was no featured artist, and it had already been raining for two days straight, but that didn’t keep a small group of devotees from showing up at the Outer Space on Wednesday night for what could be the longest-running open mic in the New Haven area. For good reason.

Since its inception well over a decade ago, the open mic that began at the all-ages Space has migrated across the parking lot in southern Hamden to the 21+ Outer Space. It has remained a place where young or inexperienced musicians get their chance at a stage and seasoned musicians try out new material, or a new approach to old material.

In the past, it was hosted by impeccable fingerpicker Robert Messore (who is hosting the 14th annual Fabulous Guitar Night on Saturday at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Humphrey Street). Over the years, Space owner and Mighty Purple frontman Steve Rodgers has also sometimes taken the reins. These days, the open mic is in the capable hands of East Rock musician and songwriter Seth Adam, who serves as emcee, runs sound, tells jokes, and now and again gets up on the stage for a song or two.

Wednesday night proved true to form.

Brian Slattery Photo

The evening began with comedian Andre Kim, whose jokes ranged from sex and drugs to politics to pets. The joke that landed best was, perhaps improbably, about the Ku Klux Klan, which had Kim musing about the inherent ridiculousness of the title Grand Wizard.”

Yeah, sure,” he said. I’ll be the head of he most racist organization in the country — with a little magic!”

The first musical act of the evening was Linda Bonadies, an accomplished composer, pianist and singer. I haven’t been here in a long, long time,” she said, so I’m going to try to dust off the cobwebs.” There were few cobwebs to dust off, as Bonadies began her first number with a dramatic flourish on the keys and launched quickly into a complex set of lyrics that hooked the audience from the start.

At the end, she apologized for a barely bobbled lyric.

That’s what we’re here for,” Adam replied. We’re like Planet Fitness without the weights. No judgments.”

Bonadies’s next song was a ballad from a one-woman musical she had composed and performed last year in Cheshire. It featured a catchy melody sweetened by a fleet, complicated harmonic structure that Bonadies worked through with professional fluidity.

Andrew Biagiarelli started off with a moody song that matched poetic lyrics to a slowly descending harmonic line that let the melody move where the words dictated.

He then switched gears to what he called an old song.” He joked that it was silly to call it that, since he wasn’t that old himself. But, he said, I can’t believe I wrote it 11 years ago, when I was 19.” That song was an upbeat thing that brought a bit of sunshine to the rainy night.

I really like the vibe in here,” he added afterward, as the crowd gave him appreciative applause. As Adam got the stage ready for the next act, he encouraged everyone in the audience to say hello to their neighbor.

Hi, I’m Mike Griffin,” said the bespectacled man who borrowed Adam’s guitar to play his set. Family Guy, mythological creature, whichever sticks in your noggin.” Griffin’s songs showcased his understated agility on his instrument, paired with a forceful singing voice.

Shortly after concluding a set of covers that encompassed both Nirvana and Sublime, 25-year-old Nick Hirth announced that it was his birthday. I can’t think of a better way to spend it,” he said.

When it appeared that someone had signed up for a slot but then left, but the next person wasn’t quite ready to hit the stage, Adam filled in with a quick couple of his own songs.

Thanks for coming out. You could have gone to Wal-Mart. Or TGI Friday’s,” he half-joked. But you didn’t do that.”

Longtime open mic poet Devlin Grunloh gave the audience two poems about Thanksgiving, explaining that in his house, it was really a three-day affair. In my family, we don’t do anything halfway,” he said. Accompanying himself on a shaker, he let his words fall into an easy rhythm that revealed the rhymes within rhymes in his prose.

Outside, it was still raining. But inside, it felt warm and dry. As Mark T., who had come up from Bridgeport to play a few covers himself, said: I heard a lot of great writers here. It truly is a beautiful world.”

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