funny, my experience of open mics made me think you could shoot a great documentary film about the London open mic scene. Great minds think alike and all that.

I love the democratic nature of open mics. Often they're one part Saturday night light entertainment X-Factor cheese; one part Outsider Art. They are experiences that guarantee moments that will make you cringe and wince and will have you uttering under your breath "Make it STOP!! Please, MAKE IT STOP!!!". And then someone will get up and sing something brilliant and uttely unexpected. (Admittedly, this doesn't happen very often!)

Sometimes even the people who are awful are so awful they're brilliant. But all human life is there, to a degree you just don't encounter at folk nights or rock nights or jazz nights or any genre-specific events.

on a slight digression, I totally disagree with this comment:

"most musicians look at people who play for free as the equivalent of scabs in a union ... Venues that don't pay are typically considered in the same class as karaoke clubs"

That simply isn't true in my experience. For most musicians I know, getting paid for a gig totally exceptional.