Protis

Your Spot Open Mic Night - The Magee, 21st May 2026

There was a real sense of familiarity as I entered this venue in Fortitude Valley for what I initially thought was for the first time. I had a feeling that I had been there before, and after a period of time I found that was definitely the case! The Magee used to be known as the Pig “N’ Whistle, and I had in fact spent time there on a few occasions during BIGSOUND over the last few years. It seems like pretty much everything about the venue remained the same, apart from the name. Oh, and of course the open mic event!

The man in charge of the live music entertainment for the evening was Greg, and I enjoyed meeting him for the first time. He played a few songs to kick things off, with the first one being “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. For that number, he was joined by his partner on lead vocals. She is really quite shy, but she has an amazing singing voice! Greg played acoustic guitar and sang harmonies, and the two of them sounded really great together! Justin Crosbie took his turn on the stage later in the evening, as did Josh, Billy and someone else who wrote their name on the board as “D.”

Frog The Baddie Hunter always loves performing at new venues, especially when four songs can be played. His set consisted of songs by the likes of Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, Rick Astley, and of course the iconic “I Am Australian.” Rent Acenter also enjoyed the extra time in front of an audience, and this evening he went under the name Residential Mortgage. As mentioned in previous weeks, he has decided to change this stage name every time he performs. I once again played Frog’s folding keyboard, and everyone is absolutely amazed when they see it for the first time! The songs that made up Residential Mortgage’s setlist were as follows:

1. Teenagers (My Chemical Romance cover)
2. Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus cover)
3. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)[Green Day cover]
4. Stacy’s Mom (Fountains Of Wayne cover)

Manly Deck Open Mic Night - 14th May 2026

My bandmates and I really enjoyed travelling to this event, even though it took a while to get there due to the afternoon traffic. Once we arrived though, we found out that the venue is run by the same person who is in charge of Tiger Eye Bar in Petrie Terrace! I noticed many similarities between the two venues, one of which being the food. At Manly Deck I must say that I highly recommend the chips, as well as the steak burger. I accompanied both of these with a Somersby apple cider.

This open mic is a weekly event, with Stevo Elbow running it on the first Thursday of each month. Local singer-songwriter Felicity Kircher is in charge of proceedings on the second Thursday of each month, and my bandmates and I were able to meet her. That was exciting, especially since I have actually played at least one song of hers on my radio show “Protis Reviews On Zed Digital.” She also co-wrote a recently-released song with another artist named Tiffany Grace, who I interviewed on my show last month. That conversation will go to air on Wednesday the 15th of July from 6pm, just two days before her tour of Queensland and Byron Bay gets underway.

Felicity kicked off the live music entertainment for the evening, strumming an acoustic guitar and singing. Her father joined her for a few numbers as well, on the supplied drum kit. He also helped her set everything up for the open mic, and the five songs of Felicity’s set really helped set the vibe for the night. Mostly soulful jazz with a hint of reggae is perhaps the best way to describe her time on stage, especially her cover of “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson just to name one of them.

Frog The Baddie Hunter had stayed overnight in Melbourne, after having seen Split Enz there. Two of the songs in his set were by them, and they were “I Got You” and “History Never Repeats.” The other two he performed were “Better Days” by Pete Murray, as well as the timeless Aussie classic “I Am Australian.” Rent Acenter was making his first appearance at Manly Deck, and was assisted by Frog and myself. Frog had brought his foldable keyboard along for me to play, as well as a stand to put it on. We also played four songs while we were on stage, which were as follows:

1. Jessie's Girl (Rick Springfield cover)
2. All The Small Things (Blink 182 cover)
3. Stacy's Mom (Fountains Of Wayne cover)
4. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)[Green Day cover]