April | 2010 | Brad Spurgeon's Blog

The Highlander and The Cavern, Paris’s Musical Neighbors

April 30, 2010
bradspurgeon

These two musical venues located about three minutes apart in Paris’s Latin Quarter could hardly be different in their approaches to the open mic and jam format. But they both have open evenings on Wednesday, and if you balance it right and if your musical ability and style suits both formats, you can play in both locations.

I went to both of them on Wednesday, as I often do. The Highlander is one of the longstanding open mics of the Paris scene, and it is perhaps the second place I played in during my return to the open mic scene in the fall of 2008 after a hiatus of several decades. Since I’ve been going the show has been run by Thomas Brun, a French musician who lived in the United States for a while and speaks and sings perfect English. He always does a three or four song act to begin the evening at 9:00 PM and warm up the audience. If you’re like me, though, you might not feel very good playing your set after him if you have not mastered all the electronic gadgets he uses in order to have looping, fuzz, etc., and make his set sound like it was done by a full band. After that a single voice and mediocre guitar sounds pretty empty.

On the other hand, ultimately, nothing much matters at the Highlander. It is always full of young people, it is well designed, a Scottish pub with both the ground floor and a basement room for watching live sports on a big screen, and the atmosphere is warm and intimate. The problem, however, is that in all the open mics that I have done around the whole world in the last year and a half – on every continent except Antarctica and Africa (although I did one in Africa many years ago) – I think that I must elect the open mic at The Highlander Pub as having the loudest, least respectful audience of any in the world. It does not matter how good a performance is, the audience will chatter and yell and laugh and carry on as if there was no musician. No, not EVERYONE in the audience. But a much larger percentage of people than what I have seen anywhere else. It is consistently loud. The only time a musician tends to break through a little to the audience is with a loud, roudy song. Do I care? Not much. I accept The Highlander for what it is, and the secret, as ever, is to play for oneself. On Wednesday, I must say that I did see a lot of people who listened closely to my songs – “Jealous Guy,” “Just Like A Woman,” and my own song, “Since You Left Me.” So that was nice.

I met and listened to and recorded a few people there whom I know, like Mat Hilde, and Sven Cosnuau.

Another problem with The Highlander is that it is so popular with musicians that you have to arrive very, very early in order to get a good spot. The first night I went there I arrived just after 9:00 PM and I had to wait until 00:20 before I went up to play – and by then everyone was gone. I seem to have some kind of curse hanging over me, though, because it seems no matter how hard I try to arrive by, say, 8:30, I still arrive at 9:00 PM, and last Wednesday was no exception. Two delayed metros and one long walk between metros and the walk from the Odéon Metro to The Highlander all meant that I arrived at about 9:05. I was lucky this time, though. I managed to sign up as ninth on the list. And that meant that by before 11 PM I was up and performing. I was ecstatic!

My happiness was based not only on the lack of pre-set burnout that a wait of several hours can cause, but also because I knew that I would be able to go to The Cavern, around the corner on the Rue Dauphine, within a good period of time. The great thing is that the Cavern open vocal jam starts at 10:30 PM and ends somewhere around 2 AM. So that meant plenty of time to get there.

I arrived at the Cavern unsure of whether I would go up and perform, however. The truth is, I am incredibly intimidated by this format of jam. First, let me describe a little the venue: A bar on street level leads to a winding staircase at the back and you descend that in the darkness into a stone walled, arch ceilinged tunnel – although there is a kind of “house of horrors” cage to the immediate left of the tunnel where I often expect to see either a corpse hanging by a rope or a Go Go Dancer…. Anyway, you go through the tunnel and you arrive in the Cavern. There is a rear room with tables and low ceiling, and it faces into the main room with the bar along the left side, and the stage at the end that you face as you enter. A projection on the wall to the right lists the events of the coming month, and it sits over the line of tables to the right also, and a table near the main pillar of the room. The room is shaped, of course, a little like the Cavern club The Beatles made famous.

The house band is strong and tight, and the guitar player is the spitting image of the guitarist I met at a band at the Blues Bar in Istanbul last year in a band that plays similar music in a similar format of evening. Weird! Or perhaps that’s part of the zeitgeist of such a group and evening. On the other hand, this Cavern club guitarist is a very hot and smooth player, much more complex than the man in Istanbul, who was an excellent singer and a pretty good guitarist.

The problem with this format for me is that the members of the public are allowed to go up and sing songs with the band, but they are not allowed to bring up their instruments and play and sing. Nor may they do anything outside the band’s set list. IE, if I want to sing a song with the band, I have to look at the list of songs they know, and choose from those. They will provide the lyrics if I need them. Sound familiar? Aside from the fact of this being a live band, we’re talking here about something resembling Karaoke. And I am pretty bad at Karaoke. And I have very little experience playing with bands, and I really prefer to rehearse at least a little bit before I play in front of an audience.

Having said that, I did play on my first visit to the Cavern last year sometime because the band does “Stand By Me,” and that is one of the songs I do myself. Still, I do it slightly differently to the original, and this is one of the things that makes interpreting other people’s music what it is all about: One’s own interpretation should bring something new to a song. (I don’t know if mine does.) But it is a drawback in situations like this kind of jam or even a Karaoke, where the band and soundtrack is the exact replica of the most popular or original version of the song. Then I tend to get lost.

So I have gone several times to the Cavern with the desire to sing, but I have backed out for fear of making a mess of it. Maybe eventually I will break through this and do myself a favor and improve as a performer. But the problem is that while I know by ear and name probably 80 percent of the songs on their set list, I sing only one of them on my own. On Wednesday, however, I decided that maybe I should have a go at Angie, by the Rolling Stones, since I have sung that occasionally with my guitar, but not enough to have it memorized.

In the end, however, I again chickened out. I thought to myself that I just did not know it well enough, and there were some good singers at the Cavern this night. I’ve always been struck by how the singers at the Cavern tend to be of a much higher level on the whole than those at the open mics for singer songwriters. I suspect it has to do with people not daring to get up with a live, professional, tight band to play and sing cover songs if they are not really polished musicians to start with. Having said that, I was well received the time I did “Stand By Me,” and I MUST try something again before too long.

In fact, after leaving the Cavern, I was disappointed with myself and still itching to go on. I walked nearly a kilometer away on my way home when I suddenly about-faced and said, “I MUST sing it….” I started feeling terribly optimistic and strong and as if I had a purpose in life…when suddenly I recalled how I once tried to sing Angie along with the Rolling Stones record, and I was way out of time throughout. So I hailed the first cab and went home to end my evening with a relatively early bedtime – 3 AM, I think it was by the time I finished my nightly ride around the neighborhood….

A Day At Ferrari, the Complete Video

April 30, 2010
bradspurgeon

I’m a bit behind on my various adventures of the week. So I will try to update as quickly as possible. I wanted to put up this video of my day at Maranello, Italy, visiting the Ferrari factory. I will shortly also be putting it up on my F1 blog at the New York Times, so you can check it out there with a little story on a Ferrari tobacco sponsor controversy at the moment.

But for the moment, here it is here – also, it’s coming from my new YouTube channel, by the way – and I hope that even for people not interested in racing that it will be something of a bit of interest. In any case, I have several more musical adventures to post from the last couple of days, so stay tuned….

A Brief Visit To Earle’s – and to Ferrari

April 27, 2010
bradspurgeon

I did not want to miss Earle’s open mic and so I showed up for an hour, played for 15 or 20 minutes, and then listened to Camille Feist, and then left. I had to get to bed early in order to get up at 5:40 AM in order to go to Ferrari in Maranello, Italy. I have now done that, have returned after an amazing day at Maranello, and I’m just putting up this little video of a song by Camille at Earle’s. I heard her sing this one previously at another open mic at Polly Magoo’s bar in the Latin Quarter a few months ago. Now after a 15 hour day for the Ferrari visit, I’m committing the sin of not going out to another one of my favorite open mics tonight. Will probably report back tomorrow with something from Ferrari…like maybe the drive I did in a Ferrari road car around the Fiorano test track a few meters from the Ferrari factory…. At the moment, I think I’ll have the best sleep I’ve had in…a half a week.

Okay, I have come back to post the short video I have of me driving the 458 Italia Ferrari, which is also sometimes known as a “Little Enzo,” since it resembles the bigger Ferrari Enzo. This car was actually developed with the help of Michael Schumacher, and I can tell you that it felt like one great big go-kart! (I say in the video it wasn’t the kind Schumacher used, but I meant the F1.) I did three laps of the circuit, although I only got the courage up to pass my monitor my Zoom Q3 video camera for the final lap. That’s why it is so short as a video. I have a much bigger video of him driving the track first to show me how. I’ll see about putting that and other bits up on my F1 Blog at the nytimes.com site in the next day or two. But for the moment you get a snippet of me doing this thing today that blew my (tired) mind…. By the way, it was totally unexpected. I went to Ferrari to interview a bunch of top people – including Fernando Alonso – and see the factory, all for my next preview for the Spanish Grand Prix. And they scheduled in this thing on the Fiorano track. I could not say no. Here is the video of me driving around the Fiorano test track (can’t imagine how they do this thing in an F1 car!):

That is the same track where the F1 team used to do so much testing – but no longer does thanks to the F1 budget cuts that outlawed testing during the season – although they still use it for straightline testing.

A Smashing Pop In at the Pop In – and Happiness is a Warm Rehearsal Space

April 26, 2010
bradspurgeon

The Pop In is one of the mainstays of the live music scene in Paris. It has been a center for youth culture and a meeting place for almost a generation – well, at least a decade or so. I have had a love-hate relationship with this place as an open mic venue because it is often difficult to get one of the 15 spots available every Sunday night for the open mic. But last night I decided I would do all I could to get a spot for the show, that starts at 9:30 and ends around midnight. So I showed up at 7 PM and signed my name to the list. I got the fourth spot.

I have done a little introductory video this time, using my video editing software to link together a few segments to show the neighborhood – where there is a beautiful shot of the Cirque d’Hiver, which I have written about – and especially the very cool piano moment I found in the Pop In on the upper floor while the open mic was going on at the same time. And there were some fabulous acts playing in the open mic too, so I’m putting up a couple of videos of my favorites – although there were others that were also favorites of the evening, but I don’t want to put up too many videos.

Here was one of my favorites, a band I have already mentioned in this blog, called, The Rain, with Martin Rain and Julie Hoarau. Sorry the lighting is so bad.

And then there is this fabulous band from Luxembourg called Natas Loves You. I have seen them around for a few months now, including meeting them and talking to them during their very first week in Paris after they played at the Truskel bar. They’re making their name now, and it is easy to see why – with their fabulous CSNY-like harmonies:

Unfortunately, the recording I did of my own two songs did not work out. I did not dare ask anyone to record me with my Q3 and I simply propped it up on a wall box near the speakers. But when I looked at the recording afterwards, I saw that I had aimed it badly, and I was not in the frame of the video. This was unfortunate as judging by the compliments I received afterwards, I did a good job singing “Since You Left Me” and “Father and Son.”

On the other hand, I do have one video of me that worked out. It is an absurd, ridiculous, even embarrassing video that I took of myself playing in a new fangled rehearsal space that I created on the nearby boulevard. Thing was, because I had to arrive at 7:00 PM to get my name on the list, I had more than two hours to kill before going on stage to sing my two songs – that’s all anyone gets at the Pop In – and therefore I decided to use the time in two ways. First, I decided to eat dinner in a nearby restaurant. Second, while eating dinner and reading Mojo or Rock & Folk (can’t remember which) I decided that I needed to find a rehearsal space before I played one of my planned songs.

One of my feelings about my own failings as a performer is that I have very few happy, upbeat, up tempo, songs. Most of them are a little down and deep. That’s all very well for two or three songs, but you need to break the audience’s trance occasionally with something that really moves, or even brings a smile to their face and lets them wipe the tears away and return to a higher state of happiness. With that in mind I suddenly found myself singing a favorite song from my teenage years, one by The Incredible String Band called, “How Happy I Am.”

I recall singing this song as a teenager just days or weeks before falling into a funk of depression like none I’d ever encountered before, as a result of a break-up with a girlfriend. So it seemed appropriate. Then when I dug up the lyrics to this Incredible String Band song, “How Happy I Am,” on the Internet, I discovered that it was only on the surface a light and funny song, as it was actually referring to how the writer of the song decided to respond to being badly treated by his girlfriend. Just sing to her: “Oh Lord, How happy I am, oh Lord, How happy I am…” etc. It was inspired by the song by the Reverend Gary Davis, “Oh Glory, How happy I am.”

Well, just before running out to the Pop In I printed out the lyrics to the Incredible String Band song. But I could not find the song itself or the chords and so I had to try to figure out how to do it from memory. All the way there on the metro I tried working it out in my head, eager to sing it at the Pop In. Finally, after dinner I decided I needed another rehearsal. And that is when I had my absurd inspiration. There was, I knew, a nearby new public Paris toilet on the sidewalk of the boulevard next to the Pop In. I knew these new fangled toilets were massive inside and clean and provided the perfect environment for complete privacy.

A New, Free, Public Paris Rehearsal Space

So I decided to go there and play my song. But I also decided to record this moment on my Zoom Q3 as I was certain that I would do a better job of the song in the rehearsal space with no audience but the Q3 than I would live in the Pop In. In fact, as it turned out I was not only correct on that matter but I did not have the courage to sing the song at the Pop In. It was a wise decision, as the quality of my singing and guitar playing on this song I had never played before then was absolutely appalling. However, I am including the video on this page at the risk of embarrassment because it is so absurd, yet true, and finally because there is a surprise ending to the video which I had no idea was coming. A kind of deus ex machina that you have to watch the video to the end to appreciate.

For those of you who do not speak French, the voice that came out at me at just the right moment was telling me in French that I had used up all my allotted time in the rehearsal space and the door would open up automatically in two minutes. Still, as it cost no money, it was a great little rehearsal space and I recommend it to my fellow musicians everywhere if you visit Paris.

Another Night of Contrasts in Paris – Blues Bar Cafe and Bus Palladium

April 25, 2010
bradspurgeon

Saturday night in Paris, as with most places around the world, is a crap night for open mics. It’s usually a good night for live music, of course, but I’m mostly interested in finding places to play myself, not sit as an inactive spectator. If I can combine the two of these things, though, I love it. And last night after a big search on the Internet I found that I might have the chance at both.

I found, as mentioned in my previous post, that there was some kind of open mic in Paris near the Place de Clichy, an open mic evening called Resistencias at a place called Blues Bar Cafe. In fact, it was just about three metro stops away from where I live. I also knew by my Facebook connections that the Bus Palladium in Pigalle had a couple of bands starting later on. Since the open mic was early, I thought I could make both venues – and I did.

It turned out that the open mic was the first ever at the bar, and that it had a Mexican theme to it. I went sufficiently early to eat a meal, as they were offering Mexican food. Looking at the size of the bar, I thought the food would be crap. But it was absolutely wonderful, home cooked, beautifully presented, and the main dish cost only 7 euros! But I had first made a visit down to the basement where the open mic was to take place, and this was after 8 PM for an open mic that was listed as starting at 6 PM, and I was the only person present. So I got worried fast.

No matter, I spoke with the people who ran the bar and with the open mic organizer, the stunning Magali. I ate my meal until around after 9 PM when I heard that some musicians had begun to play in the basement. So I went down and took my guitar, as the open mic had begun. It was done under the aegis of an association called, “En bas à gauche,” which means “down and to the left,” and it refers to left-leaning politics, the Mexican resistance, part of the anatomy, all sorts of stuff. I wondered exactly why there was this Mexican theme until I realized that one of the musicians present, and who is linked to the association, was a Mexican.

This was Roberto Arciniega, who plays guitar and sings, and you will see him in the videos below, and you can read his biography on the web site of his band, Bato Loko. Singing along with him as I descended the stairs into the performance area for the first time was another man whose name I did not catch, but who is from Colombia. He was there with his wife or girlfriend, and also present upstairs at first, and later to descend, was a girl I think was Roberto’s daughter. But I never asked.

This, basically, was the full extent of the audience on the first night of the open mic. It may have picked up later, but I am not sure, as I left at around 10:30 to go to the Bus Palladium. I know that when we sang, I heard applause from the upper area, and when I left I saw several old men sitting at the bar, so there did seem to be an audience. But it might have grown later on, as when I left a couple of young French guys in their early twenties came running in, anxiously, saying, “Is the concert over?”

I listened to about an hour or so of Roberto and the Colombian, and I played twice, a few cover songs and a couple of my own songs, including “Except Her Heart,” which felt very bald and empty without Félix’s arrangement.

The sound system was excellent, and the room was fabulous: Very small and split in two parts, but even those who might sit in the back room would hear the musicians and see them. The stone walls were decorated with rock, blues and jazz greats – you can make out the photo of Ray Charles next to the playing area – and there was a huge painting on the wall behind the mics. The people were friendly, open, and Roberto joined me on the maracas during a couple of my songs.

Still, it is difficult to sing for an audience of two or three people you do not know, and I would have been far happier to have found myself in front of the hundreds of spectators that I later found at the Bus Palladium.

I made my way there quickly and easily and I was pleased to be let in the door past the bouncers with my guitar on my back. A lot of places do not like people going in with guitars, and for me that is a test of the authenticity of the joint as a place for musicians. Bus Palladium passed the test. As, of course, it should. This is one of the great venues of Paris, and it is located in the cool area just off the place Pigalle. Nearby bars have music, like one just around the corner with gypsy jazz, but this is a rock venue with a great, large stage, a long bar, an amazing sound system, a big – but not too big – floor area in front of the stage, and just generally a good vibe. Upstairs is a restaurant with another stage area, a small one. The place recently reopened, and it now has a full slate of acts for live music most nights of the week. The show last night did not even require a cover charge.

This friendly attitude was actually at the center of the idea behind this historic venue. Started in September 1965, it began by sending out buses to the kids in the suburbs to bring them in to see the shows, since they didn’t have much money to make the trek into Paris. It quickly became a real center of the rock and pop scene, and even Salvador Dali showed up one night with a bunch of his friends. The reputation grew outside France too, and in addition to performers such as Johnny Hallyday, Eddy Mitchell et les Chaussettes Noires, Julien Clerc, Alain Bashung, CharlElie Couture, Indochine, Etienne Daho, Stephan Eicher, Noir Désir, La Mano Negra and the Rita Mitsouko, it is also famous for the fact that Mick Jagger decided to celebrate one of his birthdays there.

So what of the show last night? Am I still in the post girlfriend blues or what? I found the first band boring, although the leader did a good job of communicating with the audience between songs. This was a French band called Kings Off Cash (and I wonder if they have mispelled that second word), which was clearly together, but the vocals were not so inspired. And I could not help thinking that I just wished I could go up on the stage and do some of my stuff – but there we go, now I’m doing what Hemingway said was not possible for a writer. He said it was not possible to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds; i.e., a writer could not be a writer and a critic. Well, in my life, anything goes – fuck it.

The second band was an American one, a couple of women. It took so long to set up that my already low mood was descending even further. So by the time they came on at around half past midnight, I was ready to split. But I wanted to get some of their stuff on video, and I hoped against hope that I would find an inspiring band that would set me free.

No, mood too crappy again, no doubt. But this band, Talk Normal, that has fronted for Sonic Youth, was a letdown too. Unfortunately, it also had the added problem of playing so loudly that people – including myself – were covering their hands with their ears. It was a blow-out. I feared for my future – my hearing is important. I mean, I don’t want to end up like Pete Townsend!!! Loss of hearing? Who’s Next? Me??? NO way. I got out of the Bus Palladium after a few moments of video recording of Talk Normal. It sounded like a very modern version of some of the early ’70s progressive rock that I used to listen to. But it did not work for me.

Today, however, I decided to look them up and listen to the same piece with a better recording, and I can understand the attraction to this group, which is nevertheless original. You can hear it too, in that link above.

Sunday night? There’s only one open mic I usually go to on Sundays, and I’ll try it out tonight – oh wait, I sometimes manage to do two on Sundays. I’ll see what happens.

A Concert With Miggles and Wass; A Barman’s Open Mic

April 24, 2010
bradspurgeon

Back at home base in Paris after the disastrous China travel experience, it was time to get out and play again – in a few senses of the word. After breaking up with my girlfriend yesterday – who was not actually my girlfriend, since she seemed to have several men, so at best I was certainly categorized on her side to all the others as simply a friend (as we all were) – I decided I would go and forget my sorrows by going out to three different places in the same night. I lined up a concert, an open mic and an aftershow wind down from the first concert. In the end, I could have made all three – plus a fourth – but part way to the Tigre bar on the rue Molière, I decided to back out and grab a cab while there was still a cab available, since it was already almost 2 AM.

The concert was at the Espace B, a venue I have heard about for over a year, but I never went to, located at 16 rue barbanègre, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, unfortunately close to my ex-girlfriend’s place. But I was very curious to go to the concert because it had my friends Johann Giethlen and Miggles Christ playing in it, along with the beautiful drummer, Victoria Froehly. It is Miggles’ band, in fact, and after seeing Miggles and Johann play for more than a year at Earle’s open mic, I decided it was time to see the band. Miggles, as I mentioned in my story about Earle, is the original catalyst to the whole new scene of rock in the last decade in Earle’s universe – as you can see by the story, since in the story Miggle’s name is Michael Bontemps, the guy Earle met in Pete Doherty’s hotel room.

But I was also curious to hear one of the other guys at the Espace B, and that was Alan Wass. I glanced at his Myspace and somewhere else and listened to a few bars of the music and said, “This is good, wanna hear it.” It turned out also that he was some kind of friend of Pete Doherty’s. So it seemed it could be interesting.

Not for the first time, I arrived at the concert an hour and a half too early since the Facebook invitation got the hour all wrong. So that gave me the idea of taking a cab to go and see Earle, who was at the Mecano. I’d already taken a swig of my beer, but I just put it on the counter and left for the Mecano, not telling the Espace B barman that I was returning. I was simply down and out and anything goes – didn’t want much human contact.

Took a cab to Earle’s place, unfortunately passing right in front of the restaurant where I ate with my grilfriend two days before. I then spent half an hour with Earle and returned to the Espace B. First thing that happened when I arrived was the bartender told me he had saved my beer for me, behind the counter, not sure I would return or not. First good thing that happened all day – and it was even great, that gest.

My favorite Miggle’s tune was one that he has played time and again acoustically at Earle’s open mic, and I will post it below, and it also had a great line for my state of mind last night: “Why did you let me down, why did you let me down???” But actually, I think this is the song that refers to that very evening in the hotel where he met Earle with Pete, and is more about drugs than love. But I may be wrong:

But for me the revelation of the evening – since I already knew Miggles’ great stuff – was really to hear Alan Wass play his guitar and sing. Who the hell is this guy? I was asking myself. He had this cool sort of American sound to his voice, but with a clear mix of a touch of the Pete Doherty side, and clearly some Dylan and Donovan undertones, or maybe overtones. I found myself recording three of the four or five songs he played. And then I found myself thinking that the best song he did was one where I decided to stop recording for a moment, and I became entirely involved in the song – although not enough to heed to what I was saying to myself: “Why am I not recording this one? Am I perverse?”

After he played, I went to talk to him to tell him I really enjoyed the music, especially the one I did NOT record and also the first and last one. He was a very agreeable guy, from England, and the English accent when he spoke was such a contrast to the accent when he played, that it was kind of cool. But the music was authentic. And when I said I really liked the last one, “Hired Gun,” he said he had just played it with Pete Doherty. So I found out that in fact, he had backed Doherty for years, writes for Doherty, and that this song is a big success with Doherty – but it’s actually written by Wass. Looking it up on the Internet, that’s not an easy fact to find. Once it gets the stamp of a big name on it, it loses its origin and becomes a Doherty song. Here’s my video of Wass singing it (or part of it) last night at the Espace B:

But when I look and listen again to these videos, I think I prefer the way he sings his first song, of which I also took a video of at least part of it. So I cannot imagine how good the one I did not record was! Here’s the first song he played, pardon the camera movements at the beginning (and I have just returned to add a note that I suddenly realized that this sounds a heck of a lot like Van Morrison, too….):

Cabaret Culture Rapide at Belleville

So the next joint on the list was an open mic that I discovered about three or four months ago. It is in the Belleville area of Paris and it is one of the very few open mics I know of on Fridays, and it starts around 10:30 PM. So I had no choice to go there into that neighborhood, which, unfortunately, also happened to be the same neighborhood of my girlfriend whom I had broken up with yesterday before setting out on my trek!!

Called Cabaret Culture Rapide, the open mic is in a very small bar at 103 rue Julien Lacroix. The problem with this open mic is that there is no mic. They call it the barman’s evening, or something like that, and despite the pain of singing without a microphone, I like the atmosphere. The colored walls are cool, the little stage is cute, and the crowds are young and friendly, in general.

I didn’t arrive until 20 minutes past 11 PM, but I was able to get a spot to play, thanks to the nice MC. I saw a couple of regulars there, among them Elliott – whose last name escapes me, but I’ll put it up when I find it – and a woman who reads little poetic prose stories. This open mic is not just for music, but for standup comedy, poetry, anything goes. This night there was a comedian who I thought I recognized as the DJ from a radio station that sponsors a song contest that I took part in after he saw me playing at another bar and he invited me to do the contest. But I decided that it must just be my imagination, so I didn’t approach him.

I sang my song “Since You Left Me,” and then found that I was being invited to do another song in the next round of performances, so I did “Father and Son.” After my first song, the guy I thought I recognized ran up to me at the bar and said, “Hey, Brad! I didn’t recognize you at first, but I’m the one….”

“I know,” I said. “It’s Emeric!” Yes, it was my DJ from Yvelines radio, Emeric Degui all right. So we talked and he said I should do the contest again, get all my friends to vote, and they have invited a few of the musicians on the show, etc. I told him that maybe I should send in my song, “Except Her Heart,” as arranged by Félix Beguin, and we left it at that.

So below I will put up a few video snippets of the performers at this Barman’s open mic, but none of me, which I did not make. The first is Emeric, the second is Elliott, and the third is the Italian poet who composes in French, which he often seems to have a hard time speaking. He calls himself a psychedelic poet, and he is a regular at this open mic, sometimes actually doing the MC chores himself.

After the Culture Rapide Cabaret I headed over to the Stalingrad metro, passing perversely in front of my ex-girlfriend’s place, and there I took the Line 7 to Le Tigre on rue Molière, but just a few stops from the bar I decided to get off the metro, take a cab and return home – I remembered too many recent nights in Paris where I could not get a cab and I was walking the streets for an hour trying to find one.

Tonight, I believe I have found another open mic, called Resistencias, that is open to more that just music, and it is the first time I will do it. So it will be interesting to see if there are any revelations…..

Mad World Chez Vanessa

April 23, 2010
bradspurgeon

I mentioned earlier on this blog that I had sung the Tears For Fears song “Mad World” with my friend Vanessa Cabaleira at a bar called Planete Mars. Well, some time between then and now we decided to fool around with the song in front of my Zoom Q3, and I’ve just got around to putting it up now because of all my recent travels and travails, etc. We had been searching around for the right lighting, and this video is not a definitive take, in fact, it has a little conversation about the lighting at the beginning, and a little mess up at the end. But I thought it was kind of fun, so I’m putting it up. Too bad also about the light right behind my head – but in any case, Vanessa’s the one to look at as you listen to us both….

Paris Return – Shanghai Roundup

April 22, 2010
bradspurgeon

This post is, mercifully no doubt, going to be very light on words, and heavy on videos. I just wanted to touch base and close out the Shanghai chapter before it got too far away.

Suffice it to say that I am now writing these words from Paris! The exclamation mark is that, yes, I managed to make it home through the air chaos. It was a roundabout and bizarre trip that taught me that when you’re involved in a world which is rule by chaos, it makes most sense to not stick to a pre-planned, ordered path to an objective. I changed my plans several times in my quest to make it back to Paris as quickly as possible, and it paid off.

Originally, I was supposed to take a flight Monday to Beijing, then from there to Paris. Flight cancelled, I decided to go to North America, to my sister’s place in Toronto, and from there to Europe. After an initial frustrating experience on the Monday – that I wrote about here, I think – I then returned to the airport in Shanghai on Tuesday with my ticket in hand for the same flight. But on the way to the check-in desk several hours in advance, I saw posted that a Lufthansa flight was heading to Frankfurt. I could not believe it, I went and stood in line for nearly an hour and a half, praying and gambling that I’d get a seat. They were trying to fit passengers from six previous flights on this one, but it seemed that most of those passengers had been taken off guard and were in their hotels in Shanghai waiting for action.

So I got a seat on the flight, flew to Frankfurt, spent the night in a nice hotel facing the train station, and the next morning, yesterday, I took a 4-hour train ride to Paris, catching up on my sleep and reading. Bliss. Made it!!!

And then my mind returned to the fantastic nights I had in Shanghai and I began looking at some of the videos I took and decided that I had not put up enough of the Joe Chou videos from that final night at the Melting Pot. Joe Chou is a very talented guitar player, and I wanted to show it off here. There are other videos of him from my first night and also from the Melting Pot night, where I show his guitar string trick. But these ones also show his ability with his Stratocaster. There are some really high moments. So I’ll put the videos below. Also, do not miss the video of the speed at which the Maglev shuttle train runs between Shanghai and the airport. I was very happy to see that the trip took a fraction of the time it took me in a cab, and I made the video to give an idea of that speed. It is a magnetic levitation train, and I wished while making the video that the track ran from Shanghai to Paris….

Wild Last Night at the Melting Pot in Shanghai – And Joe Chou’s Secret Revealed

April 20, 2010
bradspurgeon

So I was supposed to be out of Shanghai on Monday, skipping my flight to Paris and catching one to Toronto on Air Canada. I was supposed to arrive there at near midnight and then take the first flight available to Paris from there. That was the plan the volcano forced me into – a plan as wacky as those of the hundreds of thousands of other travelers stuck in Shanghai and around the world.

I ran into a colleague at the airport who had a boarding pass for his flight to Zurich yesterday, that now has him leaving on 2 May! My problem was different: After 45 minutes wait in line at the check-in desk, I was bumped off the flight because my company’s travel agency had not issued the ticket so although the airline saw that I was booked, I was not allowed on the flight.

So I will try again today. But after an initial feeling of desolation, I returned to Shanghai, booked a room at the Hilton, called up Jeff of Bee Dees Music Bar and asked if he knew of anywhere to play on Mondays. He reminded me of what I had already been told by Paul of Oscar’s: Head over to the Melting Pot at 288 Tai Kang Lu and listen to a set by Joe Chou. After Joe’s set is finished, the evening turns into a jam session, and I’d be able to play.

“If you’re footloose,” said Jeff, “you can explore the neighborhood around the Melting Pot. It’s a really hip area with boutiques and restaurants, and you could eat there first since Joe’s set doesn’t start till 10 PM.”

I have to rush now because I have to get out of the hotel and back to the airport. So suffice it to say that I wish I could share every minute of the evening, because that area of Shanghai, full of small alleys all made up into cool boutiques and restaurants, with a lot of the old style buildings and windows and alleys still prevalent, is very, very cool indeed. Galleries, stores, clubs – and the restaurant I ate in was Thai food. First good Asian meal I had since arriving here.

And the Melting Pot, remember, – I think I mentioned this – was the place Tom & Jerry had invited me to listen to their band on Sunday night. I couldn’t make it because I was too late settling travel arrangements and finishing my race duties. But this is a fabulous room and I regret not seeing Tom & Jerry there. It is a large, chic room with a beautiful, comfortable sized stage with decent sound and spotlights, a full drum set and lots of other equipment.

First thing Joe saw me he asked to play with my Seagull S6 guitar. So he started his set with my Seagull, although the night was in fact predominantly electric, very fusion, rock. After he played with my guitar he did his set with his Stratocaster – with a sticker of Hendrix’s “Axis Bold as Love” album cover on it – and with a drummer and bassist, both Chinese.

After he finished, he invited me to do my music and I did a few songs and had someone record some of them with my Zoom Q3. Then Joe played another set, but this time with another member of the audience playing drums. That was Tony Hall, from Boston. Tony later joined Joe to sing a little too, when Joe again used my guitar. Another guest or two would later take to the stage, and I went up a second time and finished off the evening.

My second appearance was thanks to the enthusiasm for Joe Chou of one guest in the club who insisted Joe play again with my guitar. That’s when I learned Joe’s secret about how he got that sitar sound from his Martin at Oscar’s. Suddenly I saw that MY guitar was being set up by Joe in this odd manner. He was putting the two strings, 1st and 2d, together into the same slot up near the tuning pegs so they rattle together against each other. And of course he did an open tuning as well. I’ve never seen this before and don’t know how inventive it is, but it has a wonderful effect.

A very cool thing happened also in that I got to talking with the man who was so enthusiastic about Joe’s music, and it turned out he was a relatively major sponsor of a Formula One team! We’ve agreed to meet at the next race and talk shop. Isn’t it extraordinary how things come together in life when you get out there and live it!

Wind Down at the Blarney Stone

April 19, 2010
bradspurgeon

The Formula One race ended, I wrote my race report, I went back to work figuring out how I would dodge the volcano dust and get out of China and back to Paris, and then, by 11 PM, I made it to the Blarney Stone. There was no way I would let the volcano do me out of a meal and a sing at the open mic.

So I arrived at the old Irish pub and felt like I was in Ireland, and truly, truly wished I was. Within I found some of the same spectators who had been at Bee Dees, notably a racer from Australia and the man who had told me the story about the Chinese suicide on the bridge. I also found several other people and a couple stranded, like me, because of the volcano – only they’d been here since last Thursday.

“We took an extra day,” said the downcast woman, “we were supposed to return to England last Wednesday. We would have been able to.”

Their airline paid only one night extra hotel for them.

That’s why I am getting out as fast as I can, and returning to Paris by first going to Toronto. A number of the British media people are also going back to England via the United States.

In any case, when I arrived at the Blarney Stone at 11, the first thing I did was speak to Allan Cowell, who was preparing to play. He said I could play when I wanted, just join in. Jam-like. Allan is a Scot and lives in Shanghai, and he has put out a CD of a lot of songs, and it was produced by … Paul Meredith. My friend from Oscar’s.

I will put up a little video I made of Allan, who sings in a strong voice that carries up and down the old rafters of the Blarney Stone as if in an ancient Celtic hall. This is an advantage, as there is no microphone at the Blarney Stone.

I ate a plate of cooked ham, potatoes, vegetables and a beer and then I went to join up with Allan. The first thing we played was some traditional tune. Then I jumped into “Crazy Love,” and they liked it and asked for more. So I did “I Shall Be Released” by Bob Dylan. And they liked it, and asked for more. Allan and I exchanged songs, and I threw in some traditional songs for the environment. I did “High Germany” and another.

Allan eventually left and joined a group at the bar to watch TV and the news of the volcano on the BBC. Where were we again? Shanghai?

Then the stranded couple asked me for more songs, and I went through close to a dozen for the whole night, I think, including a couple of my own. By the time I left the Blarney Stone at 1:30 AM I was fully recovered from the shock of the dread of the coming day’s travel. Let’s see how that unfolds.

Brad Spurgeon's Blog

A world of music, auto racing, travel, literature, chess, wining, dining and other crazy thoughts….

Monthly Archives: April 2010