The Buzz

The poetry reading I attended was an open mic at the Buzz Café in Oak Park. There is one held every Monday night from 7 to 9pm. I attended the one held this evening, February 28, 2011. I went because I knew their open mic’s are known for their poets. Oak Park is a very artsy town, and “the Buzz” (as it’s known to locals) is right in the heart of the arts district.

There were some musicians there as well, which complemented the poetry very nicely. Most of the poets only stated their first name prior to their readings, but I guess that’s not too unusual. One of my favorites was a guy named Juan who had a spoken word feel to his work. He did three pieces, but my favorite was called “The City”. Being so close to Chicago, you would think the city he would be referencing would be Chicago, but it wasn’t. I found out through the poem that he’s from Mexico and the city he was referring to was Mexico City. Another poet I really enjoyed was named Karl. He probably considered himself a rapper rather than a poet. He reminded me of Eminem, who is one of my favorite artists. If his pieces had names, he didn’t state them. The other three poets were females. Their pieces seamed more forced than the males. Their names were Jessie, JoJo and Katie. All three of them had a similar style. No rhyming and loudly spoken. When they weren’t reading they were very soft spoken so it was interesting to hear the loud, accented words come out of their mouths. I think that’s part of what made them sound more forced. It sounded foreign compared to the soft tones they began their introductions with.

One of my favorite parts about the Buzz is the food. I discovered tonight that they also serve Mexican hot chocolate! It was delicious. All in all, it was a great evening. It was a perfect mixture of music and poetry and I was able to enjoy quality time with my girlfriend as well. I would deffinatly go again.