Website: http://www.youtube.com/theredeyegroup
Twitter: @TheRedEyeGroup
Facebook: The Red Eye Group
Email: OpenMicNight11@gmail.com
Contacts: Arii, Candice or Tahyira
Date Visited: June 20, 2011
It's everything you'd expect, times 10. I only say that because most open mic events are BS. But from the minute the mic was turned on, the makeshift stage was set ablaze. There was nothing but passion up there.
You get on that stage, and for three to five minutes, you're fuckin famous. Now, I'm not sure if it was the performers themselves, the 2 Bailey's on the rocks (at $4 a piece) or the 2 glasses of Moscato, but I was a groupie for a split second when Spaz hit the stage. Off the top of my head, I don't remember what he sang. I just remember hi T.I. vibe and thinkin, I like that. He was a gangsta rapper, of course --my fav. As I flip back through my notes, I now realize why: The one line I wrote down for him (as I pretended to take vicious notes since I am, indeed, a blogger but want to be known as a writer so I had to do something) was, "You could never make enough money." I fuckin like this guy. More than I did a sentence ago, even. "It's when people say simply shit like that, that is beautiful in it's perverse, unrelenting truth, " I wrote. You know who I like more now, too? My notebook.
It was the purity of the event that I noticed. Marcus Banks, the host & house comedian of the night --who I told to change his Twitter name because (he doesn't know this but) I know the best way to do everything and I always give my opinion without anyone asking --opened the night with a schpeel (#HowTheFuckDoYouSpellThat) about Brooklyn beig the birthplace of Hip-Hop. As a foreigner to the neighborhood I sat back and scoffed. Waiting to be impressed. Ready to judge. But he was right. There's something there. Something here. Even more impressive was what was happening in the audience. The passion on stage penetrated to each and every listener and we vibed. We sang along to music we had never heard by people we had never heard of. From this, I can only say that, no matter what you do, there's a place for you at The Red Eye Group's Open Mic Mondays. I'm pretty sure I could display my fantastic stick figure drawings and be received with love.
That's the thing, it was all love. & Arii is probably afraid of the ending of this piece due to a different fear -- I think she might have been afraid that a little Rhode Island girl like me might get scared or (worse) judge if a scuffle were to break out afterwards. But (perhaps, unfortunately) I felt right at home. "Want to go outside?" I asked Storm, writer of The Red Eye Group's official blog --we were all in the Koolaid, man. This is the type of place for real people. Not the type of place you might get shot, but the type of place you should probably watch your mouth. But that's how the real world is. It's not all picket fences --and that's why those people where up there on the stage. And that's why I was down there in the audience. No one in there was happy. I don't mean that in a bad way --I mean that everyone in there was there because of the possibilities of something better. I've never been at a more fantastic networking event. Everyone was willing to help someone else. It was a real, "I come from the same hood you come from, I mean, we share basically the same story," feeling. It felt like home.
So here it is: If you're ever looking for a random place to go on a Monday where you can get a cheap drink, a good seat and a look into the possible future of Hip-Hop, The Red Eye Group's Open Mic Monday's are for you. Sit back, relax (or wild out) & tip the bartender.
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| Left to right: @Cakezzz, (myself) @MissThousand, @Storm_Tracer, @Arii_Mane, @TAsterisk |
Additional Reviews Coming soon. I'm a regular person, gimme some time ;)
The Location: Mirrors on Grand.
The Performers:
Knova
Jordan Rock
Coco Bella
Omar The Comedian
Fresh Air
Janea
Young Bosses
Poison Oak
Spaz
Mav
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