Rkstar Open Mic

04/02/2020

For those that stopped going to the Moon & River on Sundays after the Rkstar Open Mic ended, a new open mic sprung up in its place - The South Ferry Open Mic. And during this isolation period, you can record video performances and have them posted on the page. Check it out!

Open Mic Info at the Moon and River Cafe:)

12/29/2019

Doesn’t look like I’ll get through 2019 before the final open mic tomorrow ( !!!! ), but here are a few more sign-up sheets from 2013-2015. The first two years we regularly had 10-15 performers per week, it dropped to 5-10 for the last year, but still enough for a good time. And oh yeah, if anyone coming to the final open mic wants a specific intro song, let me know in advance and I’ll see what I can do!

12/27/2019

When you have more than 800 pages of sign-up sheets, it's difficult to choose which ones to share. Here are nine more from 2010-2012. Hopefully it's still legible on Facebook!

12/22/2019

In 2009 it was common for open mic to start late (from the set 7:30pm time) and go over and fill up all the overflow spots.

12/21/2019

The first few full years at The Moon & River went well. Well, a dozen or two open mics were held at Arthur's Market. Including New Years Eve 2016/2017, which had nine featured performers who got sets twice as long. By 2008, the open mic was starting to develop into how we know it today.

12/19/2019

Come the first Summer at The Moon and River Cafe, attendance was great, sometimes even needing to use the sign-up sheet's "overflow" section. And some students at Schenectady High School made a short documentary about the open mic and the cafe. You can watch that here - https://dangoodspeed.com/shared/15f-mics-and-one-way-streets

12/18/2019

Come January 2005, even though the sign-ups were still pretty full, Van Dyck management was pushing attendance away... instead of the 200 we were getting Summer '04, it was down to 40-50 people. Paddy stopped hosting regularly, the last two hosts at The Van Dyck were MotherJudge (RIP) and Geno K. When we showed up for open mic on February 3... the Van Dyck manager said "We couldn't find any wait staff for tonight so open mic is canceled". A group of about a dozen of us walked down the street to The Moon and River Cafe which had a struggling open mic on Sundays. The group of us decided to just move the open mic to the cafe and take over the Sunday open mics... first one- 3 days later. I didn't have much time to promote so attendance definitely fell to start.

12/17/2019

Leading up to the final open mic, a look back at some memorable moments and sign-up lists.

10/04/2019

Ok gang, I'm about to get on a plane and fly 5,000 miles away for a few weeks. Richard Genest and Tim Barker have said they'll run things for me for the two weeks (10/6 and 10/13) I'm gone, respectively. Treat them nice and have fun! See everyone soon!

01/20/2019

The roads are pretty rough out there with about two feet of snow, so open mic is off for this week, in case anyone was thinking about braving it. See everyone next week!

12/23/2018

Hey rock stars! Tonight is the annual Christmas Rkstar Open Mic. Christmas songs aren't required, but encouraged. Come bring your good cheer and play the Christmas song name-that-tune at the end of the night!

07/19/2018

Heads up for those who weren't there this past Sunday, I'll be out of town for a few weeks. Kenny will be hosting the next few open mics in my absence. No pranks allowed on the substitute.