This is what makes it special. There are plenty of good reasons to pay lots of money to hear a highly paid celebrity perform music that you know and love. That is a good thing to do and you should do it often. But the person you are paying to hear, the "professional," is probably not like you and probably not from your community. Maybe they were at one time, but now they have become something else. We can admire them and desire to be like them. We can appreciate their ability to enter our world and enhance it. But at the end of the concert, they return to their world and we return to ours.
At an open mic, the person you are hearing, usually for free, is like you. Or they may be like somebody you know. Heck, they may be somebody you know. They are from your community. Like you, they will drive home after the show and sleep in their own bed. Tomorrow morning they will wake up and go to work, maybe at the same place you work. They live in the same social and geographical environment that you live in and they want to sing about it. It may be a cover tune or an original song, but the desire to sing it comes from the same social context that you experience every day. At their best, they are amateurs.
I found the following definitions of an amateur in an online dictionary.
1. A person who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession.
3. One lacking the skill of a professional, as in an art.
Definition number one is accurate as far as it goes, but I think the word "pastime" is a bit misleading. Many of the open mic performers I know regard their day job as a pastime. Performing their music in front of a live audience is what they live for. For others, it is recreational, in the sense that it "re-creates" them. It refreshes their spirit and gives them the strength to deal with the daily struggles of life. If by pastime you mean something that makes the passage of time more bearable, more enjoyable, or more exciting, then I suppose the word is adequate. I have watched people cry, get goose bumps, dance, shout, sing and walk out offended during open mics. It does help pass the time.
Definition number three may be accurate in some cases, but there are many open mic performers who have been, or soon will be, professionals. Either way, they consistently demonstrates skills comparable or superior to the level of many professionals. Being a professional is not just about your skill level. Technically, being a professional means you get paid to do it. Open mic performers generally don't get paid.
Which brings me to my usage of the word amateur. The derivation of the word comes from the latin amator, which means "lover, devoted friend, devotee, enthusiastic pursuer of an objective." It is in this sense that I use the word. When you see someone performing onstage at an open mic, they are usually motivated by love, not money. What you are witnessing is an act of passion. The skill level may be high or low. The artistic expression may be one you enjoy or dislike. But there is no denying the fact that the person on stage has something that they want, or perhaps need, to share. Otherwise, they would be at home, playing for their own enjoyment in their own living room.
Since the idea of sharing is central to the open mic experience, there must be an audience. And this is where you come in. If you are planning to be part of the audience at an open mic, Here are some suggestions on how to make the event more enjoyable.
1) Be engaged. I believe that open mics are ultimately social events. You probably came with friends. You might have come to support a friend who is going to perform. It's okay to talk to each other and have a good time. But try not to distract from the performance. There are lots of places where you can go to hang out with friends that don't have live performers. You won't hurt a jukebox's feelings by ridiculing it's song choice, quality or volume. But you are in a place with a real person on stage. Make eye contact with them every now and then. Smile if you like what they are doing. When the song is over, respond. Polite applause is always appreciated. Clapping and cheering is even better. At the moment when the song ends, the person on stage is exposed and vulnerable. Open mic performances are a conversation. The performer has said what they had to say and now they are waiting for your response. Give them one.
2) Be supportive. To put it bluntly, the performer on stage doesn't need your crap, so keep it to yourself. Granted, they chose to get up on stage and share what is going on inside them. But you chose to come to a venue with live music. You might not like or appreciate the performance you just shared, but you can still show respect for the performer. Sure, you can be verbally abusive, and you might even persuade the performer to never, ever get up on stage again. But is that what you want to do? Is that the effect you want to have? What if that was your friend, or brother up there pouring their heart out? How would you want them to be treated? What if it was you up there?
3) Be generous. Open mic performers may aspire to be artists, but at the end of the night we are all just beer salesmen. The club/bar/venue hosted an open mic hoping to make money. If they don't make money, or worse lose money, they will eventually stop hosting. Nothing personal, its just business. So when you go to an open mic, BUY SOMETHING! And don't forget to tip the wait staff and bartenders. They also are part of your community and they are working very hard for not a lot of money.
I believe that open mic events are music incubators. They are developmental in ways that are similar to school music departments and performing arts organizations. They have different pedagogical philosophies and values, but if you want to find the raw, bleeding, cutting edge of musical creativity in your community, go to an open mic.
Or better yet, get together with a group of your friends. Appoint the most qualified person to be the designated performer. Encourage them to schedule a time slot at an open mic. Then go with them and support their performance. Art doesn't get any more personal or community oriented than that.
