The Chippewa Chapel will hold its last open-mic night at Off Broadway tonight, July 24. The night plans to relocate as soon as it finds a new home. After the jump, read a press release from the Chapel's fine hosts as to why they're making the change.
In case you haven't heard, we are leaving Off Broadway. This Thursday night will be our last at this fantastic venue. While change is always bittersweet, we are confident this is the best option for the Chippewa Chapel Open Mic and for Off Broadway.
Many have asked why we are leaving. The situation is this: Off Broadway is such a great venue – there is nowhere else like it in St. Louis. They attract a lot of touring bands. Touring bands tend to view St. Louis as a good place to play en route to a bigger city. So if they are aiming for Chicago or Memphis or whatever, we are the stop before they play their bigger city weekend shows (so they want Thursday night). This puts Off Broadway in the position of either bumping the Chapel or turning down bands St. Louis should have the chance to hear. (We want to hear them, too.)
For our part, we of the Chippewa Chapel want to be sure that St. Louis musicians know where we are EVERY Thursday night. We need a venue, a weekly revival, a home for our little congregation. We are committed to providing the best open mic experience ever for newbies and old hats. It is not easy to leave Off Broadway, but it seems like the right move. There are no hard feelings on either side, and we maintain positive relationships with everyone there.
So now what?We will take a short break until we find a home. We have several options under consideration. If you know of a venue that you think is a good fit for The Chapel, let us know. And we'll let you know as soon as we do.
What we are looking for: the Chippewa Chapel Open Mic is looking for a bar on the south side with a decent PA system, a stage that can fit a full band, and cheap beer and whiskey. We want a place that can guarantee no cover charge for Chapel nights, that will be available for us EVERY Thursday night, and that will allow us to book our own opening acts. We desire a venue that allows smoking in the bar or has a comfortable smoking area where drinks are allowed.
We, in turn, offer no less than St Louis' Best Weekly Open Mic Night. We have a merry band of Chapel regulars who make music and a party wherever they go. We welcome all genres, styles, sizes, musical abilities. We encourage new musicians to take steps forward, we encourage people to make music together, we welcome out-of-town musicians. We know how important (and how fun) it is for us to meet every week.
Anyway, the bottom line is you do not want to miss the party this Thursday night! We will cook up a mess of food. The bar staff will keep your drinks flowing for cheap. We will have all the instruments (or bring your own), you come out and bring the talent.
Speaking of talent, the opening act will be Black Cat Bone at 8pm. If you have been to the chapel in recent months, you may have caught their bluesy rockadellic sound. If you haven't, check em out here: http://www.myspace.com/blackxcatxbonex These boys are so much fun.
The open mic will get rolling about 9 p.m. *Be sure to come early if you want to play.* We do everything we can to get everyone up on stage, but this will be a huge night. Last week we had 17 names on the list before 9 p.m. If you want to play, don't wait. But if you are coming for the food, drinks, music, atmosphere or the people, we will accommodate you all over the place!
Open Mic-edly Yours, Catherine, Deanna, Jesse, and Justin
