Anybody know a good plumber? Have we got a job for them: last night, just after setup was complete at the Cantab, the sound of rushing water and a rapidly filling bar area forced our staff to jump the bar and clear the room. What to do? How about: give your grandest thanks to Michael F. Gill, longtime doorman and networker extraordinare, who led us down the street for an almost on-time at the generous (and fortunately available) Out of the Blue Gallery. Already home to the longest-running poetry open mic in Cambridge, Stone Soup on Mondays, the gallery took us in, seated us, and amplified us, all in time to run our usual open mic and welcome feature and TESTIFY author Simone John.
Invoking our new space was a great group of utterly unflapped open mic poets, all capped by a glorious feature by our headliner; Simone took us down the intense and necessary path her documentary work blazes for readers and listeners. If you missed the gift of her work last night, you can treat yourself to a purchase of TESTIFY straight from Octopus Books, or catch her at one of her many fall readings: her October 13 gig at the Haley House Slam comes to mind.
You might have noticed that we had no open slam last night: don’t worry, we’ll be back in the poetry competition business next week at the Cantab, with room for you to hop into the fifth competition of our 8×8 series. Our welcome-back-to-the-basement feature will be local favorite Jackie Perry.
Boston Poetry Slam Online