Culture & Community | Arts & Culture | Vintage clothing | Sober spaces
Cecelia Bellomy Parker and Will Parker.
In a rapid-fire, rhyming list, Will Parker and Cecelia Bellomy Parker recounted basically every way you can procrastinate: buy a telescope, smell organic soap, drink some tea, play with fire, watch TV. Parker’s marching rhythm on guitar with Bellomy Parker’s precise tambourine drove the song forward. Their inventory continued, silly and syncopated: drink Ovaltine, sleep on the floor, have a good dream.
The song—about ignoring work, trying something new, maybe messing up, but certainly not caring—was the perfect kickoff for Thursday night’s open mic at Witch Bitch Thrift. Held in the store’s small black box theater, the event featured a variety of acts, from seasoned local bands looking for a relaxed jam, to first-time performers wanting to give the stage a try. Participants shared poems, love songs, and impromptu comedy to an audience sitting on cushions scattered across the floor.
"It felt very low pressure and casual in a way that was really nice,” said Bellomy Parker, one-half of the New Haven-based alt-folk duo BlueRaspberry. “Some open mics are really competitive and people will give critical advice, or it’s hard to get a spot sometimes. But here everyone’s very supportive.” With Parker, she performed three songs to lead off the show—two originals capped off by a cover of Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta,” evidently a crowd favorite as they joined in to sing the chorus.
“I heard about the open mic and thought ‘I definitely want to go.’ I love open mics, especially ones like this where everyone is very attentive,” her bandmate added. “I love that it’s a sober, queer space, and that everyone is just super nice, friendly, and welcoming.”
Next up was Ben Reed, whose crunchy bass chords and raw vocals brought garage rock to the black box. “I hate your face, but do you even care?” Reed screamed into the microphone as the audience nodded their heads along. While he has recorded several studio albums with full bands, Reed likes open mics because they give him the opportunity to play his own music live and experiment with sparser instrumentation.
Virginia Semeghini.
Several times he stopped playing a song midway through if he felt it wasn’t working, quickly launching into a new track with a smile and encouragement from the crowd. Reed especially enjoyed the intimate setting of Witch Bitch’s theater, with people sitting on the floor up close to the stage.
“I like that it’s in close quarters so there’s a sense of community,” he said.
Witch Bitch opened in October of last year on the corner of Whitney Avenue and Trumbull Street after moving from their previous location in Bridgeport. The Bridgeport store, however, was too small to host any events, so the additional space in New Haven was a welcome sight.
“We’ve always been very community-oriented,” said Eva Ray, one of the co-owners of Witch Bitch. “When we found this space, the stage already existed, and the second we both saw it we were like ‘oh my gosh, this is so great.’ And we just started dreaming about every possible thing we could do.”
By June, the theater was up and running, and the store hosted its first open mic, which featured a drag performance, classical piano, and stand-up comedy, among other acts. In a survey Witch Bitch conducted before the opening of the theater, Ray explained, open mics were by far the most requested event.
“We found out that the community would really like that so we just wanted to give it to them,” she said. But for Ray, this is only the beginning. She imagines movie nights, game nights, panels, and even classes.
“I’m excited to see how it’s gonna develop, because it’s just so new and we’re still getting the word out and developing our crowd,” added Virginia Semeghini, Ray’s fiancée and co-owner. “I’m excited to see how it’s gonna go as we mature.”
To close out the show, Theo Muncey, who works at Witch Bitch, read a series of short poems, followed by a performance by Semeghini herself on keyboard and vocals.
“All sorts of crazy stuff is happening. It’s all happening very fast,” Muncey said.
—“And very organically, too,” Semeghini chimed in. “We’ve been having a lot of fun.”