Brad Spurgeon's Blog

Last night was the sort of pins ‘n needles night at the Coolin open mic where the man who had started it as MC, Henry Tipping, was no longer there for good, and his job was taken over by Etienne Belin-Debray. So obviously everyone was kind of wondering, “Hmm… will Coolin be so cool?”

Sorry for all the puns on Coolin. But anyway, the transition was very cool. It did not at first feel quite the same, of course, but that was also no doubt partly in the minds of the regulars who knew that Henry was not there. The great news was that there were about as many musicians as usual – with a few notable absences – and a large crowd of carousers.

I have noticed that the success of an open mic really depends on a number of factors all coming together. Some open mics survive the departure of the original charismatic MC because the locale is made for an open mic, the management loves it, and the location is great. I think even open mics run by great MCs have a hard time if the bar or location stink.

So you really only need to get a few of the elements right, but if you have them all, of course it is the best thing. Last night Etienne and gang continued the same open mic, allowing all musicians to go up once before going up again and then playing jam-style with each other.

Only time will tell if the Coolin will make the most of the potential it has as a fabulous venue and atmosphere to continue and become a mainstay open mic in Paris. But it was so young anyway – at two or so months – that that was the situation anyway….

I can’t believe this post. I intended to do a very neutral post saying something like, “Look at the videos! Coolin goes on!” And I come out with this opinionated thing that 6 billion people minus about 200 at the moment could not care less about! Anyway, I had fun and will return.