Spitting Image of the Noctambules Crowd
On Wednesday, it was a trip back to the Oasis 244, where our friend Trelys had been holding a weekly open mic on Wednesdays for a while – until she wasn’t. Now, that slot has been taken over by Julien, whom I had met before at Belushi’s bar. The location and style of room of any bar will have an effect on its open mic. The rest will come from the bar owner or manager and from the open mic MC.
Looping at the Oasis 244.
Because the first two bits at the Oasis have not changed, I was keen to see what Julien could do with the bar in his version of the open mic. From my single visit on Wednesday, it looks like pretty much a winner. The sound was OK, the organization was perfect, the crowd was great, and Julien’s MCing was smooth. He has attracted a different crowd to the bar as well, and the whole looks very neat and cool. Definitely worth checking out on a Wednesday evening – a difficult day, what with the Highlander’s hold on the city’s Wednesday nights in most other senses….
Cool-voiced woman singing at the Oasis 244 open mic in Paris.
Last night, it was a new venue, tucked away in the cellar of the Baryton bar in an off-the-beaten path of the fifth arrondissement on the Rue des Bernardins, between place Maubert Mutalité and Notre Dame. I thought I was entering a high-class nightclub at first, with a bouncer expected to appear to frisk my guitar. But it turned out to be totally laid back, and the room in the basement is very comfortable.
Julien opens the open mic at Oasis 244.
Most of the evening is designed to be like a live karaoke, with Vincent Lafleur playing the keyboards, and participants singing into the mic. But it’s open, and Vincent let me play my guitar and sing. I classify this as a “sort of” new open mic, too, because readers of this blog will know that I ran into basically the same open mic as this in at least two prior bars, both hosted by Vincent. One was the Orphée, in Pigalle….
Third act at the Oasis 244 open mic in Paris.
Oh, Pigalle! And that brings me the next step of the three-step Paris open mic journey: Tonight’s Noctambules bar open mic on the Place Pigalle, hosted by Raphaëlle! This addition to the Paris scene enters its third month of action, and as regular readers on this blog will know, it has been a wild, fabulous three months so far. Hoping that the month of August does not subdue attendance at what has otherwise been a fabulously well attended open mic so far, both from spectators and musicians….
Unusual second act at the Oasis 244 open mic.
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The earlier part of the looping at the Oasis 244 open mic.
First singer at the Baryton open mic.
Second singer at the Baryton open mic in Paris.