Open Mic at Voodoo Daddy's: Plenty to See Here

Goodnight Robin 

Voodoo Daddy's Showroom Monthly Open Mic

24th March 2026

The stage is set.

The monthly open mic evening hosted by Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom is a musical institution that was started by Robin Evans pre-pandemic.  The show was promptly reconstituted as soon as possible after the air had cleared and has since become the event that puts the ‘vital’ into the vitality of Norwich’s music scene.  

The setting, (both when upstairs on Timber Hill and now in the basement of Voodoo’s on London Street), is sound engineered, lit and takes place on a now legendary local stage.  Its scale and format, the unfailing regularity of the open mic, has led it to become a place where innumerable local musicians gather and mingle each month.  It has been at this open mic many of them have stepped a public stage for the first nerve-tingling time. They try out newly acquired instruments, test new material live, or just come to support and meet their fellow musicians.  The reliability of Evans, in turning up each month, has been a key factor in helping said musos giving themselves personal goals and challenges for each month’s open mic, if they can get a slot.  The event is a virtuous circle and is one of several reasons the Norwich music scene thrives.

The Annex: Halesworth's answer to The GLC

 

Evans has been the promoter, booking agent, MC and stage hand for all but one session for nigh on six years.  The man, who identifies as a Southern Gothic Country Punk musician, (when not being a Dirty Swamp Bluesman, or possibly The Broads Blues Tidal Mud Monster), has filled each night with local acts and some who have travelled from around the breadth of East Anglia.  Musicians come from Dereham, Beccles, Yarmouth, Aylsham and Halesworth, all are made equally welcome.  Students from NUA and UEA dip in as and when their studies permit too, which probably adds a welcome gritty realism to their premium-priced sojourns in the area. 

 

No one has ever been invited to perform at one of these events.  Such is the reputation of the evening, the warmth of the reception, the enthusiasm of the Norwich audience, that each month the open mic night is frequently over subscribed. Tonight’s event is a case in point, with eighteen acts signed up for a two song, five-minute stage slot.  Bear in mind that there are plenty of open mic events around Norwich. At the last count I noted six, not counting the three spoken word shows each month, which also have an open mic element.

There is no magic ingredient at play here.  Evans works bloody hard to ensure the open mic happens every month.  This means putting out chairs, collecting them in, liaising with the sound engineers and being the stage hand, as well as MC for the show.

The work he does as a stage manager and stage hand is really important.  He shows nervous debutants how to set up their sound, gets cables and chairs as needed, even helps Mick whose stage name is Avoidant get his wheelchair on and off stage.  There is nothing the big guy won’t do to get the players set up and ready to perform.  Dealing with newbies, or the precious, or the languid artists, is all grist to the mill.  Everyone gets a word of encouragement, advice, or a hurry up as necessary, but always with good humour.

Evans concentrates on skills.  Learning new skills, refining skills, practising skills.  He doesn’t go down the line of talent.  He believes in nurture and effort.  Tell someone they are a rare talent risks sowing the seeds of complacency, acknowledge someone for all the hours they have put into improving and developing their skills, helps build a self-analytical (not self-critical), mind-set linked with the under-standing of the quality that comes out depends on the effort that goes in.  It was noticeable how many of the people playing this evening wanted to publicly thank the Mr Evans for his attention to their musicianship and help developing confidence on stage.

Mick Avoidant plus special guest backing singer

The acts all appreciate why and what he does for them and the audience does too. Hopefully the Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom will never become a platform for musicians hoping to impress industry bigwigs, like Nashville’s Blue Bird Café.

The audience for these Norwich shows is almost entirely comprised of fellow acts, their friends and family members, with a few music-curious individuals and couples dotted around the fringes.  The atmosphere is enthusiastically supportive of whoever is brave enough to climb onto the boards and practise their skills under the very, very bright lights.  I have only ever heard one heckling incident, that being Evans himself, last night.  in a moment of genuine comedy, he got more back from the stage than he had expected.  Lesson learnt for Evans, one tests the razor-sharp wit of Ellie Ford-Knubley at your peril.

Ellie Ford-Knubley - after seeing off The Heckler 

 

With eighteen acts to cover, I can only provide a brief impression of who went on stage this month.  It is more important to understand that being there yourself is the best thing.  It is on every month and is promoted through the Voodoo Daddy’s Instagram account and poster boards on London Street.  The open mic is free to attend and there is no pressure to stay.  The seating arrangement is not restrictive.  There is time between each short set to stretch your legs, chat, grab a drink, or enjoy a pizza from the kitchen upstairs.  It is relaxed and good fun.

 

I contend that at any open mic event in the world you will find something that you enjoy.  At least one act will make your attendance worthwhile.  How much you enjoy it will be down to the state of mind you arrive in, to be fair, but again what you put into it is up to you. As a member of the audience you also have to appreciate that you will only be seeing a snapshot of performers on their respective artistic trails. So that's worth respecting.

The 24th March 2026 show was a classic in this regard.  Mr. Evans did his best to organise timings, but herding adolescent gambolling lambs is easier, believe me.  The show has always worked on a first-come-first-on-stage basis and it has always worked well. Thankfully there was only one no show, but that opened a slot for an outstanding performance from Nick Stephenson, who makes a living playing at weddings, parties and care homes, where his frenetic guitar playing is, I can imagine, the highlight of the week for many.  He gave the Voodoo’s crowd a knock out interpretation of ‘Baba O’Riley’, which is The Who’s opening track from their UK No 1 album ‘Who’s Next’ of 1971. How the hell he managed to do it will remain a mystery to me.  The Who relied heavily on studio wizardry to produce the original, but Stephenson was only armed with his acoustic guitar and voice.  Stephenson then managed to break a guitar string just as his set ended, which is a skill of theatre and timing in itself. 

 

Sometimes the entertainment is wholly stage managed and deliberate, sometimes it is genuinely amusing, accidentally so, but then sometimes you just cannot tell whether what you are witnessing is a scripted part of an act, or just an inability to read the room.  The definition of ‘short’, ‘quick’ and ‘brief’ are all up for poetic interpretation by whoever is on stage at the time. To see Evans MC beginning to pace madly round in circles at the back of the room, biting his tongue, while someone slides in a third tune, or plucks a ukulele through the final movement of a symphony-length composition, is something that I’ll miss.  Being on stage does strange things to time.  Even Robin Evans has been known to test concentration levels.  His four-minute introduction to his final song, which was his farewell to the end of his era defining role as Norwich’s Mr Open Mic, had me worrying about his emotional well-being and whether I would miss my bus home.  I ended up walking, thanks, mate.

 

The first act of the night was Tom Goddard, who started performing at 18 years of age and who is now studying Music Production at the University of Lincoln.  His use of guitar loops and pedals is something that he is increasingly adept at, demonstrating his silky skills in the songs ‘Brazil’ by Declan McKenna and King Krule’s ‘Out Getting Ribs’.  Normally, you might think that this Goddard chap would be a tough act to follow, but that is not the mentality needed to make the most of attending an open mic.  Just think, it’s not a competition, every act is different. 

Simon Tall, the name behind Breadknife Music, organiser of open mics elsewhere in Norwich, sang about the “impending” end of the world, (a theme we all instantly tuned into) and a number which chorused “Hoping for some love.” Whether that was before the end of the aforementioned planet, or a wistful, frustrated farewell depends on how its read. Simon Hallett, using his Gaelic instrumental faculties, sang the dreadful, I mean in the way that it is a song full of dread, ‘Gallow’s Pole’ and an uplifting number Irish which I think was called, ‘Give Me Your Hand.’

 

Ellie Ford-Knubley’s banjo accompaniment to ‘Meet Me In The Graveyard’ and ‘I’m in Love With The Devil’ had the audience holding its collective breath. You could have heard a pin drop as she played, which is not what could be said for the three 20^th Century Boys from Halesworth, The Annex.  The Annex are Suffolk’s riposte to Gwent's funsters, Goldie Looking Chain.  Evans gave them a chance to play a third number, ‘Too Young’, to go along with their song about life from a Muntjac deer's lens, and another, about chaos in the local Co-op after a store relay. Great fun.  Cracking beats.  Two bass guitarists and a vocalist performing to some thumping dance tracks even got me to break out of my usual casually interested observer mode.

 

Calum Brundle was a new name to Voodoo's and he closed the open mic with a medley that he wrapped around the tunes of the great itinerant bluesman, Robert Johnson.  Brundle, who was only just climbing back into the saddle of live performance, would be very welcome at any of the Norfolk Blues Society sessions, held at alternate Wednesday fortnights somewhere in Dereham and then at The Brickmaker’s in Sprowston.

 

I won’t run through the complete list of acts that made it onto the Voodoo’s stage this month, you can find them on Robin Evans Esquire’s Instagram account, but I do want to specifically give mention to two performers who epitomise the spirit of creativity and endeavour that makes this open mic event so special. 

Frankie Inness of the Poringland parish, took time out from his exam revision to sing two of his own numbers. The first was about how people move away from each other as they grow toward adulthood and the other, that his dad really likes, but which Frankie doesn't actually like himself about.  These two really strong songs will likely be heard at Norwich Pride, to which the teenager has been signed up to for the 2026 event.  These were original songs, coming from personal experience, that had great choruses around well- developed tunes. 

Deer in the headlights? Evans and Reu DuRell

The second act I felt particularly worth mentioning, was the striking figure of Reu DuRell, who expressed heart-felt gratitude to the evening’s MC for the advice, encouragement and support given and received since debuting just over a year ago at this show. Derell’s songs were up-beat and hopeful, personal and truly catchy.  The first 'Sugar Rush' with its snappy tempo was a strong tune, but I thought DeRell's second song, ‘Belladonna’, is a hit in the making. Although there is plenty to work at in the delivery, the song still stood out.  Apparently, it is about a witch, although for some locals, that might just be a normal night out in the wilds of Norfolk.  I jest - these two songs, with the input of a decent production studio, might well be turned into something a bit special.

The evening was wrapped up by an effusive Evans monologue about the great bunch of people at Voodoo's who have ensured the open mic has been a success and will continue to be in future. He acknowledged the owners, the management, the sound and lighting engineers and the bar staff. Evans signed off by playing a mournful and quite beautiful of version Goodnight Irene. 

The man has plenty to do with the Play Produce Promote project in Great Yarmouth, his SNAKE MILK band and solo recording and performing under his own name, plus no doubt a load of other stuff.  Yes, this open mic will roll on without him, in the very capable hands of Lila from Loud Mouth Promotions

Yes, it will be a success. No, Robin Evans won't be dropping by anytime soon. Evans has left the building.

 

Robin Evans signs off with Good Night Irene.

Spencer Ide

Norwich

25th March 2026