🚀 go-pugleaf

With the summer over and people returning to Montreal, or coming here for
the first time, I thought it would be timely to mention this.

Yawp! is having an open mic on Friday August 28th at 9pm at Bistro 4
(4040 St. Lawrence Blvd, at the corner of Duluth).  Admisstion is five
dollars.  Featured performers are Deborah-Ann doing some sort of spoken
word, and David Young who gets listed as "The Hong Kong Cowboy". Why do I
have a picture of Pat Boone dress in white riding a horse and playing a
guitar in some movie?  He was at the Yawp! last Friday, and played a good
selection of folk songs on his electric guitar.  Though when he sang
"Plane Wreck at Los Gatos" and Jake asked who wrote the song (for a prize
of a book and a pair of Rufus Wainwright tickets) the answer was only
partially correct, since while Woody Guthrie wrote the words, Martin
Hoffman (who Judy Collins wrote a song about, "Song for Martin", on 
True Stories and Other Dreams), wrote the tune, as mentioned in
rec.music.folk a few months ago.

But it's primarily an open mic night, with sign-up starting at 8pm.  If
someone does well, they may show up at some future date as a featured
performer, or go on to bigger things.  I don't know whether Lindy
started at the Yawps!, but that was the first time I heard him, and he
opened for Joe Cocker just last week, so there's always hope for bigger 
things.  Though a lot can be said for smaller venues.  The open mic might
be of interest to people new in town, as a way of meeting people if
nothing else.

Or it might be a warm up to the upcoming Yellow Door season 
( http://www.yellowdoor.mcgill.ca/ though the section on the Coffeehouse
seems to be bad), which I hear starts on September 24th.  Every Friday
night there is a show, and after the featured artists there is open Mic.

Jake usually gives away books at each Yawp!, and I think this week there
will also be chocolate chip cookies.

I was under the impression that the Yawps! started out as mainly spoken
word and some folk music, but as anyone who's seen Child 44 or Red Menace,
some of those teenage bands that perform can be quite loud.  But while 
the Yawps! seem to have tipped more towards music, and sometimes loud, 
it really depends on who signs up for the open mic.  You can still see
some great spoken word.

     Michael