Open mic hotspot hits the web

Face 11 is competing to become Cardiff’s best live music venue for budding acoustic artists by recording their performers and featuring them online.

Mat and Paul opened Face 11 at the end of September, initially as a bar that also delivered great pizza. [All photos courtesy of Face 11.]

The recently opened restaurant and bar runs an open mic night on Thursday evenings but, unlike other venues, the singers are recorded and featured on the venue’s Youtube channel.

The open mic sessions are only on their third week but the event is so far proving popular.

Co-owner Mat Hinton says, “We always intended on having live music and we also wanted to give the performers a platform as many are not aware of how powerful Youtube is socially.”

The next open mic at Face 11 will be this Thursday at 7.30pm. E-mail Jessica at jessica@face11.co.uk to flaunt your talents on the stage and online.

Meanwhile, check out local musician James Evans at last week’s session:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmayBqWQsdM[/youtube]

A few things to look out for on your visit to Face 11

At the bar

Face 11 opened on Cathays Terrace on 18 September. Between getting the keys and opening they had one week to gut the interior, rebuild it and tidy up. If you look under the bar, you can see commemorative plaques dedicated to those friends and family members who helped the bar come to life (and survived.)

Drinks galore

If you prefer to enjoy your drinks as if you were in a 30s speakeasy, then look no further. Hold out a delicate pinky and sup your classy cocktail served from a teapot. They are 2-4-1 from 5.30-7.30pm on open mic Thursdays.

Don’t forget to try their own special Face 11 cider brewed especially for them by Carmarthenshire company, Kite Brewery.

Off Piste

You may notice that Face 11 is decorated with real-life ski and snowboarding equipment. This is because owners Mat and Paul are a little into their extreme sports. Look around and see how many retired pieces of equipment you can spot.

In fact, their mutual love of skiing is what brought about the bar’s name. It came from a particularly memorable ski trip the guys took to Meribel, France. After a heavy snowfall they accidentally found themselves on black run number 11 on a particularly tricky piste called ‘The Face’. See if you can find the photo that says it all. They found the name for their bar and a fantastic day of blue skied skiing all in one. Now that’s efficiency.

acoustic, bar, Cathays, Cathays Terrace, Face 11, open mic, restaurant, YouTube