Rhythm & Muse

Last night I went to Rhythm & Muse, in Teddington for the first time to check out the open mic there., having signed up via email.  It had a really chilled vibe and was nice to relax with a glass of Rosé.  I’d arrived early so I got to sit right at the front, which I like because it means I don’t have to rumage my way through the crowd to get on stage.

 The Flying Blueberries were on first, doing mostly Bob Dylan songs, and having seen Bob Dylan at Hop Farm Festival earlier, this was possibly more enjoyable as the real McCoy’s set was long and disappointing, as he avoided the classics that all the fans wanted to hear.  Anyway, of the open mic I recognised Peter Francis from The Tea Box open mic who provided a witty rapport with the audience in between poems.  I also enjoyed a girl called Laura’s set, who studies at Kingston uni, though felt she did something I tend to do, which is to try and squeeze as many poems as possible into the set.

I loved the headline poetry act, Racker Donnelly, as I find that it’s always impressive when poets know their material by heart, and also felt there was a good mix of the comedic and the tragic… as I think he pointed out himself with reference to Shakespeare before performing a piece on King Lear.  I also felt like I was learning something about Ireland, and it’s always good to learn new things.  I’ve also been wanting to have a trip to Ireland after my friend Kim suggested it as a place to celebrate the new year (although it hasn’t happened yet).  I have to confess that part of the reason is a false hope for Gerard Butler look-a-likes after seeing P.S. I Love You… even though he’s actually Scottish.

Back to the poetry… I was on my own again, so was feeling a bit nervous… and it was coming out of my shaking legs once again – I hope that stops, it’s really annoying!  I picked a couple of poems I thought I knew off by heart and folded up the text a million times to squeeze it in my pocket for safety, and annoyingly I needed it!  I forgot a bloody line for Cinderella, of all poems, the bane of my life!  However, after that it was fine, and I got a really positive reaction from the audience.

The compère, Nick Poole said it gave him goosebumps, and came to chat for a bit afterwards, and even offered me a drink which was very nice of him, but I refused as I thought I should be sensible… the wine was really nice though so it was tempting!  I also overheard someone say ‘amazing’ after I came off stage and I don’t care, I’m going to assume it was about me because it makes me feel good haha!

I stayed for the second half but shot off when the first band returned to the stage as I wanted to be home as early as possible; my parents were going away on holiday in the early hours the next day and I wanted to say goodbye.  Before going to bed, I decided to try to put a scarf on my head to experiment to see if it would prevent my hair from getting frizzy and I thought what I came up with looked kind of cool in a 1940s way, so I took some pictures and posted one below.  It didn’t work though and had fallen off by the time I woke up. xxx