One World Cafe is essential to downtown life in Moscow. On the corner of Sixth Street, it’s the center of downtown. It is where shows are held and where people gather for a drink. An event many Moscow citizens are familiar with is Open Mic Night at One World, held at the end of each month.
Open Mic Night lets people from all over the Palouse take the stage and show their talents. It is great, free entertainment and a platform for people to share their gifts.
The event is hosted by David Harlan, who is also current instructor at the University of Idaho. He is an artistic director for Moscow Art Theater (Too), which he founded in 2011. Open Mic Night has been open for a year now, Harlan said.
With the recent self-isolate order in place in Moscow, events, open mic night and downtown life have been put on hold.
Because of this, Open Mic Night has gone online.
Normally, signups start at 6:30 p.m. and sets start at 7 p.m. Sets last 10 minutes and the show consists of nine to10 sets. It not only brings in people to hear other’s talents, but it also brings in business for One World.
Moving online changes how the event is structured. The Moscow Art Theater (Too) and the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre now hosts open mic nights streamed through YouTube. People are broadcasted in through video conference.
There are some challenges when it comes to hosting this event online. The performer’s equipment affects the sound quality of the set.
Going online can also have benefits for the show. Harlan can play recorded music from artists in the downtime. Sometimes, Harlan has his image at the bottom of the screen so people can see someone reacting to the set.
Harlan shows videos that he wouldn’t be able to at a physical location. During the last show, they put on a video of a little boy telling a story that was posted on Facebook, Harlan said.
“People loved it, those kinds of things are going to be fun and we will continue to do it,” Harlan said.
Last show had a large turnout, peaking at 80 people.
“It was well received by musicians, and I want to keep that momentum going,” Harlan said.
“There is an audience for it, and as we get more isolated there is an audience and reason to do it more frequently.”.
Open Mic Night going online helps a lot of people in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic feel connected, Harlan said.
“With the loss of the gathering places we go to regularly, we hadn’t been thinking about the loss of these things. We need these virtual gatherings to keep our social animal alive,” Harlan said.
Harlan said to continue to feel this connection with our friends and community it is important to still have these places.
“One World is an incredibly important place in Moscow, and there is no way to replace it online, but we can start to try to mitigate some of that loss through events like this,” Harlan said. “This is one of those things we can do.”
Harlan said he hopes people will give it a shot. If people are sitting at home and are aching to have a chance to perform, consider sighing up.
The next Virtual Open Mic Night will happen soon. Check the Kenworthy’s and the Moscow Art Theater Too’s Facebook pages
This post has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of David Harlan’s name.
Emily Pearce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce.