I wanted to share with you the result that I got from my open mic night performance.
I went on after a number of musical acts- there were lots of genres of music but almost every performer was singing. Mostly people didn't pay too much attention to performers and it seemed that only friends filmed each other.
I was first introduced as "coming all the way from England", which seemed to prompt more attention as almost everyone seemed to film me as I began to recite the lyrics to the songs. I started with the song "Born a Girl" by the Manic Street Preachers and the audience seemed to be listening intently to the words. I did not get much of a reaction out of saying "I wish I had been born a girl" perhaps because they knew I had not written the piece. After finishing the first song I got a bit of applause, but I feel like most people were confused by what I had said. The second song I recited was James Blunt's "Youre Beautiful", the audience was mostly silent and listening to the words. When I was done I was met with less applause which could have been because of the confusion of what I was doing or that they thought I was just doing something weird.
Following my three points previously stated in my rationale (see previous post) it is clear that 1) the reaction of the audience was that of respect and inclusion even though perhaps of confusion (in my video you can see the comparison of my audience to another performer) 2) Those who attend live music events do value both lyrical compositions as well as the music itself 3) Venue does play a role to the degree in which the event is framed, which ultimately manages expectations and reactions 4) I did feel included in the nightlife event -even if i did feel a little bit like a spectacle with most people filming me.
I felt a little bit nervous so I did look down at my paper quite a lot but they seemed to respect what I was doing and the fact that they let me preform "poetry" despite most acts being singing showed their willingness to accommodate a different kinds of acts which was inclusivity in all in all.
Here is my video of my Open Mic Night- note the difference between the reaction I received and someone else who preformed. Mine was more of neutrality-which may be because it was unfamiliar. Where as someone else's was met with applause and enthusiasm. I was still included regardless of my performance, but this comparison can show the depth of reaction.
Comparison
In comparison to Emile's Open Mic it seems that there are some stark differences but mostly similarities.
Emile began his performance with James Blunt's "Your'e Beautiful" our control variable in this case, which led some individuals to enjoy the words, where as others saw it as a mockery of the rock and roll open mic. In comparison when I performed "Your'e Beautiful" individuals were silent and listened intently to the words. A few factors may have affected the different reactions we experienced here. 1) Emile's open mic night was more geared to the Rock and Roll genre which may have thrown people off but it is still apparent that it is individual expectations that ultimately dictate behaviour. My Open Mic night in comparison was more general which may have been why they were more accepting of what I was doing as a diversity in acts can be expected. Filipino's are also known to be very polite and encouraging- So even before doing this I doubted that I would have any negative reactions.
With Emile's second song "Excuse me Mr" by Ben Harper, individuals were more silent and willing to listen to the lyrics of the song. This was the same reaction I had with my first song "Born a girl" which I had originally picked to see if it would incur a reaction. This demonstrates that even across different cultural nightlife scenes, people who attend open mic nights and live music do value words as well as music itself. This prompted us to both feel included in the nightlife event despite doing something out of the norm.
The fact that we were both allowed to preform in this way displays the "diversity of acts" and ultimately shows inclusivity in nightlife which goes beyond borders. The reaction we had varied in our control- but was similar in our serious politically charged songs. It is therefore apparent that peoples reactions vary according to their own expectations of the events.
All in all we can come to the conclusion, that despite doing something out of the norm we felt like we were included. The difference in reaction does not seem to lie between differences in regard to nightlife in Manila and London but may seem to be in the particular settings of a rock and roll pub and a more general Open Mic night.
Hope everyone is well
Charlotte
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