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July 26, 2008              Mokah Coffee Lounge                    Dallas, TX


Open Mic @ Mokah
 
 

Story by Michael Lagocki 

Photos by Justin Clemmons & Michael Lagocki

 

 

 

 

  
We brought back our Open Mic on July 26th in answer to a lot of requests. It was actually kind of gratifying that when we skipped a few open mics to prepare for girlShow that we heard so many complaints. Apparently you folks like to perform with us. Happy to oblige.

For me, this night was a unique experience. Because Justin and David took on the planning and execution of this show by themselves (giving me a much-needed break) this was the first ArtLoveMagic show I ever got to be just an attendee at. I didn't even know which artists or performers would be there. It was all a surprise
 


 

Art by Arnulfo Perez

   And I was blown away. Some of my favorite artists from the collective were there.  Seeing Andi Collard again after she rocked girlShow was a nice surprise. She was creating a massive interactive piece that used audience members' handprints as the primary medium. You can see pics of that on our flickr page.

I enjoyed seeing a  few of the newer faces that are now starting to become regulars around our shows like Jason Kinney (pencil sensation) and Maggie Smith (poet extraordinaire).  But, I've got to say, what shocked me the most were folks I'd never even met before.

 Every artlovemagic show adds at least one new artist or performer to the collective. This time the guys found surreal painter Arnulfo Perez, and since I wasn't involved in the planning of the event, I'd never seen his work before. Wow. I mean wow. I dig surrealism, and as an artist I know how technically challenging it

is to fool the viewer's eye. I'm really looking forward to working with Al again.

In the lounge, the Open Mic was packed. Delphi co-hosted (another surprise to me) and talent poured in from the Dallas streets. You never know who's going to show up to an open mic, and the two man band Faded Fools brought the house down. You can see for yourself. I caught a great video of them playing. Just before they started this song they asked if anyone in the crowd wanted to grab a drum and get on percussion. ArtLoveMagic partner Justin jumped right up and killed it. You Gotta love those spontaneous moments.

 

 

I also asked Jamie Reeve's if she'd step outside and play her song Beautiful Things.Acoustic guitar, pretty song, night air. Does it get any better? These two videos and more can be seen at our YouTube page.

I performed too- three spoken word pieces. That's what an open mic is about, right? I gotta say, I can get used to this just being an audience member stuff. I'll admit to enjoying missing the set up and tear down (sorry guys). But it was even nicer being surprised. To show up to this thing and have no idea what kind of painters or sculptors or poets or musicians I would see, that was cool. 		 

Music by Faded Fools



 
   

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