Last night was The Mic’s last acoustic rooms of the year before the Christmas break, and it did not disappoint. Accompanying the usual great standard of live performance was a back drop of Christmas decorations, a tree and on top of the all-night happy hour, Rescue Rooms are also doing a different drinks deal each day in December.
Kicking off the acoustic night were returning duo- Stella and Chris. The pair have opened a few of the previous nights and their unique covers of classic rock songs never fail to impress.
Up next was Joe Anderton who took on a very Alex Turner-esque vibe. He did a few of his own songs which went down well with the crowd and then finished on the classic “there is a light that never goes out” by The Smiths.
Kaiori was up next with her acoustic guitar. She has performed before at Acoustic Rooms and you could notice the improvement in her confidence. It’s great to see new artists developing and it’ll be interesting to continue to watch the improvements as her stage experience increases.
Next up was a really talented singer-songwriter named Rachel Hill who had a very impressive voice. She sang along with her acoustic guitar and gave a very calm and collected performance which captured the attention of the audience.
At this point, organiser Laurie stepped in to play a bit of piano alongside another performer Alice Ashley who took a seat to play her guitar as she had turned up despite a broken leg. Again, she was a very talented singer and she also played her guitar beautifully alongside Laurie and his piano to cover Bon Iver’s “skinny love”. It sent shivers down your spine to watch and listen.
Another regular took the stage next- Luke Irwin, who smashed it on his guitar playing his now Acoustic Room’s classic song “Black Fields”. Luke has been down most weeks that The Mic have been here this year and we will be speaking to him in the next year so keep an eye out for that interview! Changing up the atmosphere a bit was Larry Beaker who performed a couple of songs, the first about vegans although he confessed to the crowd that he wasn’t actually a vegan himself.
Then, Edi Johnston the ukulele playing comedian who had been down a few weeks before took to the stage. He performed a couple of songs that he played at the previous session, but they weren’t any less funny the second time round. He also did a couple of new songs, one dedicated to gingers and another about Aldi along with the weird variety of items that its middle aisle contains. He managed to get the whole crowd to participate and everybody was laughing and smiling after his performance.
Another fairly regular performer Elliot Williams followed Edi. He performed a range of cover songs and is a really talented singer.
To end the night, Laurie accompanied Hailey Pawlak, covering “Hometown” by Adele. Laurie had only recently learned the piece on piano but in all honesty, the focus was entirely on Hailey and her absolutely amazing voice. The audience’s cheers when she had finished almost blew the roof off the venue. Finally, Laurie ended the night covering Sam Fender but making it his own, performing a rendition that many would admit is better than the original. It was a great end to another fantastic night of live music.
Although this was the last week that The Mic are covering the event before the Christmas break, Acoustic Rooms is continuing and next week is an extra special event. The open mic night will also become an audition to play Rescue Room’s main stage at Beat the Streets festival in January, with the act who gets the loudest applause crowned as the winner. Due to the amount of people that are expected to attend, the night will be starting an hour earlier at 7 and will also more than likely be held in The Venue rather than the Rescue Room’s bar. If people are around this is definitely an event to go and check out as this doesn’t happen very often, and any musicians who are interested, get down from 6:30 to sign up and have a go.
The Mic will be returning to Acoustic Rooms on January 14th so we will hopefully see some of you down there in the new year!
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