The Brothers Lounge Launches New Open Mic Night

The Brothers Lounge, the West Side live music club known for its weekly blues jam that takes place in its 350-capacity concert hall, recently reopened its intimate wine bar. Now dubbed the Front Stage, the room will host full bands and open mic nights. It has its own bar and a capacity for about 80 patrons, and the piano it used to house has been moved (via crane) to an upstairs event space.

New signage for the venue is in the works as well.

Just this week, local musician Connor Mancini, a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter who performs and records as Moon Cactus, launched a new open mic night that’ll take place every Wednesday. It follows in the wake of singer-songwriter Brent Kirby’s long-running 10X3 open mic nights that took place at the club for many years before they shut down due to the pandemic (when everything re-opened, Kirby relaunched his program at the Bop Stop).

“I used to go to Brent Kirby’s open mic nights here,” says Mancini as he shifts between performing on stage and setting up for singer-songwriters. “Those were great, and it was awesome as a local musician to come and practice before a crowd. I want this to be a place where people feel safe whether they are new or advanced. I welcome all art forms. I want it to be a place where people can meet people and share their craft.”

Mancini’s own approach to singing and songwriting is decidedly eclectic. After graduating from music school at Bowling Green, he’s been writing and recording as Moon Cactus and just released a new single, “Lunar,” last month.

“I have an appreciation for a wide variety of music, including Anderson .Paak and Cloud Nothings,” he says. “I’m all over the place. I brand my music as anti-pop. It’s a problem that I don’t put myself into a genre, but that’s okay.”

Talent buyer Fran Bishop says the Front Stage will provide local bands with another venue where they can hone their skills.

“I’m open to all genres, everything from jazz to punk to metal – anything,” says Bishop, who used to book and manage the Outpost, a 500-capacity concert club in Kent, when he was a student at Kent State University. “The shows here are no cover charges except if it’s some touring bands that prefer a cover charge. The goal is to build bands, so we can move some of them to the 350- capacity concert hall.”

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