NY: Silk Road Cafe in Chinatown (Select Fridays) Full disclosure – DHC will be playing a long set as a part of the Five Points Showcase on Friday Oct 23. This is a fun place – we hit it up for the first time in 2007, our first trip to NY, after accidentally running into a long string of poetry based open mikes. It was a great feeling running across the Silk Road – very friendly people, nice heavy-packed room, and good talent. Lots of comedians, and a real home-team vibe. You can tell that a lot of the performers are regulars, but they always make room for new acts. That first trip, we were faced with signing a 4-page contract in order to play, which freaked us out a little because we were completely wasted, but it was just a release saying they could broadcast the performance on public access. We declined to sign, and they simply turned off the webcam while we were on stage. Very nice about it. Seems like they have stopped doing the broadcast now, which is too bad. Anyhow, check out the Five Points Variety Hour at Silk Road right here and here.
And in the blue trunks…
SEA: Trabant Chai House in the University District (Monday) Remember what I was saying before about ASCAP? Basically, it’s the musician’s union, and they’re the guys who like to go from business to business spying on people, making sure that nobody’s playing covers of published songs if they haven’t paid the fee. Some places just seem to attract the attention of the ASCAP spies, and Trabant is one of them. For the travelers, Trabant is a nice little place and very much worth visiting for a set on a Monday night. Lots of young attractive students from UW, comfy atmosphere, and great chai. But you have to sign your name on the list pledging that you won’t play covers, only originals. Fuckin’ ASCAP. Nobody makes money on an open mike. There should be an exception, no? Who’s with me on this?
