Open Mic Night At The Perfect 5th

We can assume that people want freedom - That people want to make their own choices.

However, we mustn't then try and dictate or value people choices by our own standards.

I completely appreciate what Martin is saying in his blog post and understand why he is going to do the things he talks about doing, however, if you take away the free, open nature of the night by imposing rules, well then the night isn't really an open mic night at all and should not be advertised as one.

Yes it may be dull if every other act is an acoustic singer/songwriter but like Martin has said time and time again - open mic night is an open source product - it has no owner and its value is completely created by those that attend. I don't really believe that anyone has the right to take so much creative control over a night that does not belong to them.

As the owner of Atkins Scooters, Taunton, said to me this morning as I rode to work with him and his dog, "There is just no way of knowing why people do some things some of the time, and not at other times". Of course I was far too busy defending myself from his dog to pay attention to what he actually said so the above quote is just a rough representation of our conversation, the point is, Martin just has to let things naturally develop. The night hasn't even been going for a year yet. It is bound to have peaks and troughs and perhaps the night is in a trough at the moment.

Martins blog