There are plenty of incentives to head down to the Pit And Pendulum on a Tuesday night. A tenner's worth of free beer for the best performer on a weekly basis, and also the opportunity to go through to the final on the 15th Nov, for the chance to win brand new guitar. It's not really a battle of the bands, as it were, just an open mic with a twist and this attracts an interesting and weird mix of people.
Making our way down the winding stairs of one of Nottingham's most novel pubs, we find the performers squeezed into the smallest of corners, as a mix of genre and ideas flow out from the speakers, and it really is a mix, with acts performing rock, indie, funk and folk and even some people having the guts to go a cappella.
The Pit and Pendulum seems to bring in quite a young crowd compared to many open mic nights, but it has a welcoming atmosphere. Within the 'gothic' lay out, hidden rooms and quaint corners, you can keep a low profile, the sound travels well without invading on your drinking space.
There might be little room to stand and watch, but it has a feel all to its own here and with a regular crowd that seems to be growing every week (this is one of Nottingham's newer open mic nights), the organiser, Zero from Tolerance, has succeeded in creating a friendly, fun and original feel. You get plenty of students in here as well as a few of Nottingham's well-travelled artists.
So we ignored the temptation of getting hammered on cocktails and settled down with a pint to check out the talented and the not-so-talented (Saggy-Pants gang even got up and did a few songs) before chatting to some of the organisers and musicians.
Zero (Organiser/Performer/Tolerance band member) – ''We started this up earlier this year, and it went on for 18 weeks with the grand final late in the Summer of 2005. We got quite a good following of people by the end, but we felt it went on a bit too long, so this time we are just doing a 8 week competition. It's not really about the winning though, it's about having a laugh and giving people the chance to showcase their stuff. We get a real range of performers, from experienced musicians in bands, to people who just mess around and do crazy fun stuff (looking at you Ben). The chance to win free beer and even a guitar in the final is just an added incentive I guess, if people don't win the first time they come down, they are more than welcome to come and try again the next week and if you do go through, you can still come down and play for fun in the following weeks before the final, then on November 15th there will be 8 performers and the judges will decide who gets the guitar.'
Francis White (Finalist and Regular performer) – 'You get a lot of variety here and its a fun competition as well as a fun atmosphere. I am looking for other band members at the moment as I am trying to form a grungy/alt rock band with a new original twist, so doing this is a great way for people to hear what sort of stuff I am writing and what sort of music I'd like to play in a band. It's a really good way to showcase your stuff to others and see how people react to your songs, the fact you can get some free stuff is nice too. I think it is a perfect open mic for new acts or people looking to get their music out there and a great way of meeting other musicians and people in Nottingham.'
We all had a really good laugh at The Pit and Pendulum, and even though the choice of beers isn't great, whose gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, eh? With the added bonus of winning things and the fact that you can really play any style, no matter how insane and different, The Pit and Pendulum's open mic really has a unique twist and is certainly very entertaining. It's on from about 7.30 every Tuesday night and with the final on the Novemeber 15th, their is still plenty of time to win that guitar. The finalists so far include: Francis White, Ben Wager and Superstar and if you need any more incentive, how about the fact you can come and see the Saggy Pants gang playing, just to turn the tables for once!
