An open mic night in north-west London is offering musicians a chance to gain live experience with top-quality equipment.
The ‘Le Junction’ event in Harlesden at the Royal Oak is intended to help keep the business flowing amid difficult economic conditions for pubs.
More than a quarter of British venues have closed since 2020 due to Covid lockdowns and crushing inflation, according to the Night Time Industries Association.
In this hostile environment, events like open mic nights are crucial to venues and artists alike.
The Le Junction Open Mic night, hosted every Tuesday evening, takes its name from its original venue, the Le Junction pub, which closed in November 2021 amid rising costs and dwindling investment.
It is now held at the Royal Oak, which shut in November 2023, before re-opening five months later following investment from the Craft Union Pub Company.
When Le Junction pub closed, the organiser of its open mic night, former broadcast engineer Nick Sale, was quick to ensure that his event continued at the nearby Royal Oak.
Since then Sale, musician Zimmy van Zandt, and sound engineer Khalid Razouki have been running the Harlesden event.
The sound is crisp, the stage is well-lit, and there seemed to be an endless array of sleek instruments passed around between acts.
This professional setup allows musicians making their stage debut, like 28-year-old Jordan Kitching, to live out their dreams on a regular Tuesday night.
Sat cradling his guitar before the event, the soft-spoken, unassuming musician gives little sign that he will be on stage 30 minutes later belting out The Jam’s A Town Called Malice.
When asked how open mics help budding artists get a leg-up, Sale said: “Artists use us to get gigs, because where else are you going to get them?”
“We serve as an outlet to people with quite strong mental difficulties.
“Getting them up on stage transforms them.”
Making dreams come true requires intensive preparation and continual improvisation from Sale, van Zandt and Razouki.
They liaise with the pub, organise, transport, and set up the equipment, market the event, give lifts, and then play throughout the night, with Sale even filling in on guitar, bass and drums for any act in need.
The tireless preparation is vindicated by the close friendships built in these events.
Sale says he and van Zandt have become best friends through the event, and their bond is clear when Sale urges his reluctant friend to perform his rendition of John Lennon’s Working Class Hero.
None of these moments would be possible without support from the Royal Oak, whose landlady, Amy Gilligan, emphasises the importance of these events.
She said: “Covid has killed the pub […] so these kinds of events are imperative.”
Open mics are the starting point for any musician, but they — and the venues they run in — occupy a precarious position on the fringes of the UK’s diminishing nightlife.
But with open mics still running, opportunities still exist for young, up-and-coming artists.
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