For the past two years, it’s been the beats before the Beats but from now on the open mic evening at The Draft will officially be known as “Beats in the Bar.”
“They say the third time’s a charm and we think so too,” the Beasts of Burden posted yesterday on their GooseBook page. The post also confirmed that the Beats in the Bar will officially become an annual event.
“The Department [of Holidays, Festival, and Celebrations] has put it on The Park’s official calendar and so should you,” the Beasts’ lead singer Alfredo Ox told Toro Talk Radio host Yannis Tavros yesterday afternoon.
And he emphasized that “the name has changed, but its purpose hasn’t.”
“We’re still looking for raw talent, unknown artists, and new beats. We still want to showcase the best of the pre-fest at our main event. So, come on out and show us what you’ve got,” he said.
In its short history, the open mic evening has become one of The Park’s biggest talent searches. But it didn’t start out that way, the Beasts’ manager Ignatius Herder says.
According to Herder, the open mic night was originally conceived as a way to “warm up” Park residents in advance of the Beats of Burden Music Festival, which was new and not very well known.
“So Alfredo put out the call to Park musicians and we thought we’d get what would amount to a pre-show, but we couldn’t have been more wrong,” Herder says. “These young, talented, untested musicians came in and blew the whole thing wide open.”
Since then, not only has the evening become a showcase for new talent, but Ox himself has become the mentor of five young artists.
“That was a total surprise,” Alfredo Ox told The Mammalian Daily last year. “Mentoring was the last thing on our minds when we started this thing.”
The rules for this year’s event are the same as last year: those who wish to play or sing are asked to add their names to a list that will be posted outside The Draft tomorrow morning.
“Whether or not you perform, you will be a great time,” Herder says. “But come prepared to stay out all night.”
