Brad Spurgeon's Blog

PARIS – The Baroc open mic, one of the mainstays of the Paris open mic scene, has felt all to often in recent months as if it has fallen a little by the wayside. This is in no small way due to the success of the newer, hip, cool and laid-back open mic of the Café Oz in Pigalle. But on Tuesday, I was tempted back to the Baroc – because I’ll never stop going to it – and found myself enjoying one of the best open mics of recent memory.

It was like the best of times at the Baroc. Was this due to the Café Oz owners preferring its soccer crowd and closing the open mic last Tuesday in favor of a match? I mean, did the Baroc attract thereby all of the old crowd back again, away from the Café Oz? No, it did not seem that way at all. I saw two maximum musicians who might otherwise have gone to the Café Oz. It was just all about the Baroc doing its thing the way only it does it….

It has been so many days since I took part in the open mic, and I’ve had so many other pressing things to do that I was unable to write about it immediately, and it has been far too long I’ve delayed. So rather than spew on in undigested prose and fading memories of details, I’m just going to put up the videos, and let them do the talking….

By the way, the whole thing ended up in a fabulous acoustic jam, once again showing the spirit of the best open mics….