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Open Mic Review - Ringside Pub in Caldwell


A guitar trio plays on the Ringside Pub stage

379 Bloomfield Ave.

Caldwell, NJ


Sundays @ 8


Food: Yes

Bar: Yes

In a word: Informal

Format: No idea


Not sure if it was just an off night, but it was almost empty for the open mic. However, this may have had more to do with the size of the room and the gigantic bar that spread people out.


When I got there, there was a bass on stage, and as I was playing my set (I went first), someone began setting up a drum kit for their set.


I was given a pretty much unlimited number of songs, and had to kind of imply that I was done by asking repeatedly how many more to play. For a while I couldn't do that because the MC left the bar possibly to go smoke.


For the most part it seemed like the crowd was not there for the open mic. Well, what little crowd there was.


The two acts I stayed for may have been regulars? The MC joined one of the acts on bass for a cover, so they were at least familiar.


If you want a stage to play as many songs as you want, this may be the mic for you. However, if you're looking for a receptive audience or networking opportunities, my first impression was that this was not the place for it.

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