So, after a (well-publicised) last minute change of date, WORDAMOUTH went ahead at The Live Room on Monday night. Conspiring elements meant it was a predictably quiet night, but not one without high quality performance and an appreciative audience.
Captain of the Rant took the stage first and rattled through a 20 min set with his usual blend of well-observed critique and uncompromising wit. Next up was feature poet HKB Finn. Now, I remember Finn as a rapper, long before he moved into spoken word, and for me to be able to host Finn felt like I was paying back an overdue loan. True to form, Finn captivated the sparse audience with tales of travel, love, life and beyond. Finn is also a band member and performed with his Djembe for two pieces on Monday - one his; the other accompanying one of the open mic poets. It's not every performer who will participate beyond their booked duties so readily - props!
Unfortunately, Chris Syrus couldn't make it, but the 4 open mic poets filled the time and space admirably. In a night of first's WORDAMOUTH held it's first (and definitely last) SLAM!! Up for grabs was a copy of John Locke's, The Abuse of Words as well as a HKB Finn CD. Competition was furious and slightly hurried by the influx of late-night Sambuca seekers that flooded in after 11pm! After much deliberation and a couple of hours of myself and Funkhead Fred DJing 90's rave classics for the 'mad for it' crowd of local revellers that took over the venue (Xmas+free entry=WTF), the spoils were shared by Ardit and Nathan.
It was certainly a fun night, and with Alan Wolfson in attendance, an official poetry night! However, it was not the night I planned for and the Performer-Pundit ratio was way out of kilter due to iffy logistics and the date 'thing'. Still, props to the poets for doing a grand job and shouts to everyone who has, been to/planned to go to/tried to get to/talked about/served drinks/plugged in cables/printed flyers/blogged/liked and tweeted in support of WORDAMOUTH in 2010.
Next year there's big tings in the pipeline *pause* with WORDAMOUTH hitting Favela Chic on 8th Feb. There's no open mic at this one but top quality performance is definitely on the menu and then through the night with a poet-friendly DJ set from myself. Watch this space for more info.
Also WORDAMOUTH moves to a Sunday at The Live Room from January (dates tbc) as well as looking at exciting new venues/ventures in South London and Birmingham. Damn it feels good to see people up on it!!
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