CONCERT SERIES #2: Open Mics.

Hey ya'll. :)

This is me, performing at an open mic a few months ago.

As a lot of you may know from my bio, I volunteer at a diy punk venue. We put on open mics every second and fourth wednesday of the month, and I've worked all of them and played all of them so far. Since I started playing them a lot of really cool things have happened for me with my music, such as being able to meet an amazing community of talented people my age, and to be getting the chance to record my music in June.

A lot of people think open mics are scary, or uncomfortable, or whatever preconceived notion they have. But, I'm here to give ya'll a few tips on first timers, for attendance and performers.
 
TIPS FOR PEOPLE ATTENDING: 

me before leaving for open mic!

1. Be open minded. A lot of open mics have it open to all media, meaning singing, spoken word, art, noise, etc. At the one I performed at last night, there was spoken word that was brilliant. And three guys who had never played together before who just made some noise. It was awesome. But it'll only be awesome if you're open minded about it. If you can't appreciate the fact that somebody has the balls to do something in front of people, then you shouldn't even go.

2. Be a respectful. I mean this in a sense, that you should clap for people and not get up and walk out halfway through their set. (**Unless they have personally offended you, or said something offensive. I'm thankful that the venue I volunteer at has three rules, no booze, no drugs, no jerks. And the no jerks one really means it.**)

TIPS FOR FIRST TIME PERFORMERS:
1. Realize that no matter what you're doing, you're doing it for you
and no one can tell you you're wrong if it's something that personal.

color tattoo in barely branded as a base,
ydk by urban decay all over where I put the base,
a deep matte brown in the crease, and a matte black
in the outer v.

2. Be aware of who your audience is.

3. Let yourself be nervous. People spend so much time trying to make their nerves go away when it's better to just let yourself be nervous and let yourself work through it.


Anyway, I hope this post is helpful to anyone who needs it!

ALSO, I included an eye look because I had somebody ask me on tumblr about what make up I wore, and someone on here commented a few posts back. I'll list the products on my eyes in the caption for anyone wondering. :)

Love, Noralee

FRIDAY FAVORITE #3 (CONCERT SERIES #1)

Hey ya'll. This isn't going to be a traditional "Friday Favorites," but since my Friday was amazing I thought I'd share it with ya'll.

I go to a shit storm amount of shows, being that I also volunteer at a venue, so I thought it'd be kind of cool to do a small mini-series of do's and don'ts about concerts/shows. Yesterday, Friday, I went to a festival, which is completely different than just a venue show. A festival typically has 4 - 6 stages. This one had 5, I believe, though I only frequented 2 of them myself.

My Dad's work gave our family free tickets to the Wildflower Festival, which is near Plano, TX. We decided to go Friday as a Mother's Day present for my Mom because her favorite singer was going to be there: Uncle Kracker.

Some tips I have when you're going to a FESTIVAL are:

1. Depending on where you live, dress accordingly.. like in Texas it was 100+ degrees, so I wore a light circle skirt, with a deep v loose shirt tucked into it, and my jean vest (for extra pockets). I also took one of my lighter crossbody bags. Even though I dressed light it was STILL super hot. So, take the weather into account before you just go onto the fest.

2. Check online for restrictions, such as at this fest you couldn't bring DSLR cameras, or any kind of camera with an attachable lens. You also couldn't bring outside food in, which is a general consensus for all festivals I've been to. And you could only bring up to a liter of water in with your group. They post this stuff for a reason, so be prepared for what you can and cannot bring as best you can.

3. This is probably the best tip, be nice to the people at the gate who take your tickets. Seriously. Be nice to anyone you see in a staff shirt. They're all there dealing with drunk people for probably 3+ days. Don't be a jerk.

4. GET A MAP. Every festival I've ever been to has had at the front people passing out maps, don't just pass it up. Take one! You'll need it! Actually, at a lot of festivals there's a lot of booths and people trying to sell things, but if they hand you something for free, take it. A lot of that stuff comes in handy. At the one last night there was a State Farm booth handing out paper fans... and damn, did I sure need that later.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed this post! I'm going to work on how I want to break up this concert series, but I think I'll do tips for venue shows, bar shows, and house shows. Then maybe some getting ready for shows posts with fotd & ootd.

Love, Noralee