Poetry & Song Open mic and feature performances, Newtown

Garden Lounge Creative Space returns to Newtown Friday March 28th with our signature 'Poetry & Song' open mic event, hosted by our good friends at the stylish and inviting 8:52 Hong Kong Restaurant on South King street.

With feature performance by regular band The Useful Box.

Registrations are taken from 6pm and the first half of the night will start around 630pm.

Performers must register in person.

All people of all ages and career stages are welcome to join us, and anyone attending is welcome to get up and perform their own original work.

8:52 Hong Kong Restaurant will be open as usual.

Doors open: 6pm

Performances commence: 630pm

Performances conclude: 830pm

Doors close: 930pm

Entry: Free. Booking a ticket is a means of helping us plan numbers for the night and helps contribute to event costs so we can keep doing this :)

About the venue

8:52 is a retro-style Hong Kong restaurant. The operators provide comfortable home food that they grew up eating, and love to share with the local community. Their signature dish is baked rice and cheese noodles, and they offer a range of tasty and unique drinks and foods like milk tea with coffee, pineapple buns and more. The restuarant is decked out in vintage items from the 70s to 00s and offers spacious booth/bench seating. More than just a restaurant, 8:52 is a place to connect communities, and hosts all sorts of events.

More about the show

All art forms are welcome but please note each performer is restricted to 5 - 7 minutes, including banter.

Sign up for the open mic is from 6pm on the night. No pre-booking of open mic slots is available.

Regular performers over the years have read poetry, performed monologues, sung a capella, played music on a variety of instruments with or without lyrics, told jokes and comedy routines, read chapters from their novels and memoirs, and shared direct accounts of their personal experience.

Anything you can safely do with the space is encouraged, including non-verbal, non-aural and non-visual art.

Policy and ettiquette

Please bring an open mind and a willingness to self-reflect.

If you would like us to make any adjustments or ensure particular arrangements can be made when you attend, please contact Michael on 0402328406 or ask at the door.

All people of all ages are welcome at our events, and we are happy to do all we can to make sure everyone who wants to be in the room can do so in safety and comfort.

Above all, Garden Lounge Creative Spaces are inclusive and welcoming. While controversial opinions are acceptable and will be given space to be heard, intentionally seeking to offend or distress marginalised or vulnerable people will not be tolerated from performers, audience members or staff. This guideline should be sufficient to help you understand when or if heckling is appropriate.

Mutual respect between all staff, performers, audience and the local community is a fundamental expectation at our events. I strongly believe that all art, jokes, sarcasm, and communication of any kind is possible and deliverable in a meaningful way - regardless of content - as long as mutual respect is already established.

To misquote Terry Pratchett: satire is mockery intended to expose the flaws of the powerful. It's not edgy or revolutionary to mock people who are excluded or powerless in our society, it's just mean and ugly.

If you are concerned about any aspect of the event or conduct of anyone at the event, please speak to Michael or another staff member directly. We always endeavour to listen to and support all of our community, including audience, staff, performers and neighbours.

Liquor rules

Please note this is a licenced venue however it is a requirement of the liquor licence that patrons cannot drink alcohol unless they are eating.

Backline:
This show will be amplified, with seating on the footpath as well as indoors.

Gear available for use by all performers includes one guitar and up to two microphones with stands.

Please note there is no piano onsite.

If you require any other instruments or equipment - including backing tracks, internet connection etc - you must bring your own equipment and cables to make this happen.

Our PA system has quarter inch jack inputs (common 'guitar lead') and XLR/Cannon jack inputs (3 pronged microphone input). If your gear does not have an output port suited to either of these you should aim to bring an adaptor.

We will have a 3.5mm-to-6.3mm adaptor available to enable headphone outputs to connect to the PA if needed.

Please tell Michael when you sign up if you have any special requirements as above.