Au Ptit Bonheur La Chance | Brad Spurgeon's Blog

Regrettable New Open Mic? Nah, Not at All

February 27, 2013
bradspurgeon

At first yesterday morning when I received a message from a friend telling me he and his band were starting a new open mic in Paris, at the Pigalle Country Club bar in Pigalle on the rue Jean Baptiste Pigalle, I sighed, and said to myself, “Damn. Now I have to make the regrettable decision of not going to my favorite open mic in Paris in order to attend this open mic of my friends, whom I MUST support.” But I then added to myself, “And it is also damn regrettable that these guys are choosing Tuesday night for another open mic in Paris, the night where there is the Ptit Bonheur la Chance open mic, AND the Baroc bar open mic, AND others as well!”

By the end of the night, though, I had decided that nothing was regrettable. I started the evening having dinner with a friend I had not seen in a long while, and that was great and well watered. I ate at an Asian place at Odeon, and then took a cab to the Pigalle Country Club where my friend left me to my open mic proclivities. I entered to find this small bar darkly lit and with nothing of any “Country Club” decor. An interesting sort of half seedy, half classy whorehouse like feel to the place, and warm service and a lot, a real lot of clients – most there for the open mic.

But not exactly there for the open mic. The talk level was very high, and many stood outside to talk and not listen. The open mic was run by my friends the Burnin’ Jacks, and many of their other friends came to play. The accent was on rock n roll, but there was some sort of “hard folk,” the whole put together with a single small amp and the house PA, as far as I could see. The vocal mic was not the high point, as this really was mostly about hard rockin.

That is the point that brings me to the no regrets. This new open mic is worlds apart from the Ptit Bonheur la Chance open mic, so I can’t see it attracting the same kind of musicians or crowd – even though the Ptit Bonheur does not exclude much in the way of music, just mostly percussion.

So I played with my great lead player, Felix Beguin, I did four or five songs, and I listened to several other people. Then I thought, “Hey, it’s still early. Take a cab back to the Latin Quarter and check out the Ptit Bonheur afterall.”

Of course, what I had not planned for was that between the meal, the open mic and then the third location of the evening, and not adequate sleep the night before, I was starting to lose hold of my centered-ness… if you get what I mean. So I actually got to go up and play a couple of songs at the Bonheur. But with all those glasses I had had beforehand, I found myself behind the mic and completely incapable of remembering the words to “Year of the Cat,” which I had just sung perfectly at the Pigalle Country Club.

So I stumbled through it, stopping several times and turning my slot into a comedy routine instead of a musical interpretation. People actually laughed and enjoyed the break, so that was just fine. Still, feeling complete failure, I decided to fly into my second song, with a message regarding the first: I sang, “I Won’t Back Down,” by Tom Petty. (Juba’s own instrumental piece before I played was superb, by the way.)

While I played my songs at the Bonheur, my new friend Juba played lead off to the side, and boy was it great. I was sorry to let him down by forgetting all the words to the Al Stewart song. It did make me want to play with him again, though, and afterwards, I had lots of wonderful conversation with friends in the bar once the open mic finished. So I realized that I had no regrets over the evening or the open mics at all….

Of Loyalty and Success at the Ptit Bonheur

February 13, 2013
bradspurgeon

I’m a great believer in the concept of loyalty in certain situations in life, maybe even in most situations. But when it comes to deciding where I am going to go to have fun playing my music in an open mic, I don’t care at all about loyalty. I’m going to go to the open mic(s) on any particular evening where I think I’m going to have the most fun, both behind the mic and at the bar talking to people, and within the confines of what my availability is within the sign-up rules of the open mic. But when it comes to the MCs of great open mics, I sometimes feel that maybe they should show a little loyalty. And last night, Ollie Joe, the MC of the great Ptit Bonheur la Chance open mic decided to disappear from his post to go off and do a personal concert at the Espace B. I wanted to go and see him, but given the choice, I decided to go to his open mic, being hosted exceptionally by Sven. Wow! I was not the only one who remained loyal where Ollie did not! The place was jam packed with spectators and musicians, more than any other time practically that I have seen….

Having said that, Ollie Joe is a wonderful musician, and had I not had such a selfish motivation in doing music at open mics, I would have attended his concert – and he later returned to the Ptit Bonheur la Chance and told me the Espace B was also packed. So all ended well. But I can say that loyalty had nothing to do with the fun at the Ptit Bonheur last night. A vast list of performers, a full bar on the ground floor, standing room only in the concert room below, and some wonderful acts. NOT a night to miss – and woe to all those other bars in Paris that choose Tuesday as their open mic night….

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was actually taken enormously by surprise, got to the Ptit Bonheur so late that I was virtually the last one on the list to perform, and even then, I was no doubt on the “standby” list. As it happened, I had so much fun as an audience member and listening to others, that when it came my turn and Sven had reduced people’s slots to one song, I decided to give my second song to a crazy Australian and crazy Frenchman who had never performed at the Bonheur before. And even that was selfish, since I actually did not want to perform at that point, it was such a great night.

OK, I admit. I’m not telling the full truth. Another reason I didn’t want to perform by that time is I had a run-in with a very disagreeable spectator who treated me like cow manure for making a video of one of the better performers. That kind of thing happens very, very rarely; which is why I tend to take badly to it. (I’m actually completely cool with someone telling me that they hate being videoed and would rather I not do it – but the secret is in how it is done, IE, treat me like a normal human, my video camera is not a weapon, and lots of people love seeing the videos (of themselves or others). I needed a bit of time to cool off on the only low point of the night…. (There, I have adhered to my strict effort to speak my mind on this blog, no matter what happens….)

Two Nights, Three Open Mics, Unusual Performers, No Time

February 6, 2013
bradspurgeon

Oh no! Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin, into the future! Or is it trippin? In any case, I’ve been back against the wall with time problems concerning this blog and my life in general in the last few days. Oh, my priorities have been there, like I DID do two open mics on Monday and one last night, and I’m running out now to do however many….

But the result is the slowdown on the blog and the inability to lay down more words on this page than what I will leave you with this time. Again, as I have very occasionally done in the past, I must simply leave the videos to do the talking about these adventures.

Oh, I must however mention that after a great night at the Coolin open mic, where I sang backup vocals on a Steve Forbert song with Jake Weinsoff, who had backed me up on violin on Crazy Love, I went on to do a fun Galway open mic…. and then last night, the Ptit Bonheur la Chance. And there, I heard so many great musicians, but with two or three real high points. One of the real high points I wanted to mention, as that was from Carly, who had a unique sound that seemed to be a mixture of Tom Waits, Marianne Faithful and Janis Joplin.

Tex and the Gang at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance

January 30, 2013
bradspurgeon

Tex the Italian slide resonator guitar player was in big demand last night at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance open mic. I only got a couple of videos of him playing, but it turned out that with Tex the Italian cowboy in the crowd, few musicians wanted to go up behind the mic without his backup. Me included!

Tex backed up me, Baptiste W. Hamon, Avalanche and Wayne and others. It’s because Tex is a very cool slide guitar player, and because guitar player singers will often jump at a chance to multiply their presence behind the mic. I did Crazy Love and Mad World, and enjoyed massively Tex’s backup. Baptiste did a couple of songs, including his song about Townes Van Zandt, and Baptiste recounted that it turned out that Van Zandt was also one of Tex’s favorite musicians, and actually went to Texas, like Baptiste, to follow in the legendary singer songwriter’s footsteps.

But the night was not ALL about Tex and the gang; there were several other really interesting and cool performers, like once again Rafaelle with her classical guitar and sublime vocals and lyrics.

Good Vintage Bonheur

January 9, 2013
bradspurgeon

That’s a weird and atypical post headline, but last night at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance was sort of atypical too. It was not absolutely bursting full of people, as January can be slightly more quiet as a month for open mics in Paris. But it did have a healthy crowd and a healthy crop of musicians. Or rather, no, not particularly healthy. January is a good month to get ill in Paris, and I think I caught a cold from the mic at the Bonheur last night and may not be playing for a few nights hence. :-(((( But perhaps I should. Wayne Standley last night had a terrible cold and did one of his best ever performances!

There were a few other very good performances as well. I tried to do some different songs than usual, doing my song “Lara, Lara,” doing the “Raggle Taggle Gypsies,” and doing my song, “Sing It,” which somehow sounds like a protest song written in the early 1960s, although I never intended that.

Then also atypically, everyone cleared out of the bar really quickly after the open mic ended, and I found myself alone as a customer in the bar and I pulled out my guitar and played a song all alone… and Yaco did a video of this alone moment, although I don’t know if I will – or want to – see it. The bar perhaps emptied out as I may have been sending out signals that I was the next victim of a winter cold….

Musical Variety at Ptit Bonheur la Chance

December 19, 2012
bradspurgeon

The Ptit Bonheur la Chance open mic, as readers of this blog will know, continues to amaze and surprise. Last night it was well attended, but not totally standing-room-only as it can sometimes be. But last night it surprised me by the sudden variety of all sorts of new and different performers from the usual ones.

The styles varied from electric jazz guitar to opera to violin in a sometimes strange trio. And there were other usual acts, singers and songwriters of the kind that we are used to seeing there. But all in all, it was a real pleasant surprise on the music side of things.

I played my song “Since You Left Me,” for the first time in a long time, and then I did “Cat’s In the Cradle,” even though I had the feeling that I had just sung it there within my last two or three visits. In any case, it was a very satisfying evening, and I managed to get a lot more videos than on Monday night….

No Words Left for Bonheur

December 12, 2012
bradspurgeon

I have had a few not-so-great nights at the open mic of the Ptit Bonheur la Chance on the rue Laplace in Paris, but the number of times I have had great and memorable nights far outweighs the latter. And last night was another great and memorable night. And I have had so many such nights there that I have run out of superlatives to describe the bonheur at the Bonheur.

So I am going to keep this writing to an absolute minimum in order to leave room for the videos. Needless to say, it was a typical night at the open mic at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance bar: Talk in the bar on the ground floor, followed and mixed with music in the cave in the silence of the silent listeners and cool musicians, followed by more talk and then a jam session on the ground floor after the open mic. What better recipe? A bit of everything.

Oh, and then a group of us headed off to an after hours bar around the corner once the hour hit 2 AM and our bonheur had ended.

And I brought along my Gibson J-200, so there was plenty of fun listening to the others play it, and me doing it myself.

Just check out the bonheur vidoes, and the videos of the bonheur….

Back to Paris Part II: Bonheur à la Chance

December 5, 2012
bradspurgeon

This will be even shorter than yesterday’s post, time problems being the reason. But I did want to report that the open mic at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance once again delivered on its promise last night. Well, almost, and with a little help from whatever…. I got there just before 10 PM and that put me last on the list. But at least I was on the list. In the end, I played an acoustic set, no amp, no mic, and just laid into the thing with my Gibson, singing stuff that the five remaining spectators – from about 50 at the peak – could sing along to and clap along to. I was really in a state of “bonheur,” quel chance.

But then, the rest of the evening turned into some really cool jamming in the basement room and then some jamming in the ground floor room, and some neat meetings and conversations, and all together, in the end, it was a full and fun night. Bonheur.

So here are a few of the videos – including with one of the coolest meetings being with the lap slide player Tom Laroye with his amazing 1927 Weissenborn lap slide made of loa wood in the same shape as the ubiquitous Hawaiian guitars of the time, his having been built by a German named Weissenborn living in Los Angeles at that time….

Back in the Bonheur and Things to Come

September 26, 2012
bradspurgeon

It was just astounding to see the number of people who had shown up for the open mic at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance in Paris last night. Clearly the new season is upon us, and the open mics of Paris are overflowing – bursting at the seams. I got there at around 9:30 or so and found myself 16th on the list. Still, I got to play, and so did four or so others after me. Yaco told me his record for sign ups is 21. We must have got close last night.

Today, it turns out, is the 6th anniversary edition of the open mic at the Highlander, but I will miss it, thanks to a concert by my guitarist Félix Beguin with his band at the Truskel – which I would not miss for anything. The band, by the way, is his new band, “Velvet Veins.” After that I may try to drop over a couple of blocks east to the new open mic at the Vieux Leon – since it is so close. It is the inaugural open mic there. I heard from someone else that he will be hosting an acoustic night on Wednesdays at the Starbucks at Gare St. Lazare on Wednesdays as well. So Wednesday in Paris this year looks awfully crowded for open mics – there’s also the Orphee club jam on Wednesdays and a few others.

So here I am once again saying very little, and being terribly pressed for time to get out to that concert. Best to let the videos from last night do the talking.

All Downhill Up to Here

September 13, 2012
bradspurgeon

Please excuse me while this blog goes totally downhill. It can only be uphill from here – in a good sense. What I’m trying to say is that I have been so occupied with a million other things, including performing and practicing or rehearsing with my friend Felix Beguin, that I have let the blog slide downhill. It will not stay there, I’m sure. And it is not representative of the state of affairs in my life….

In fact, it was business as usual at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance on Tuesday night with a great open mic, and a few new things – like duets. Including a duet consisting of Yaco and me. We did “Mad World.”

Okay, so there was no time yesterday to report on that because I was practicing for my gig this Sunday with my amazing lead guitar player, Felix Beguin. Then we went directly off to the Highlander to perform there together. On the way there after more than two hours rehearsal, I received the message that our gig at the Lizard Lounge had been cancelled due to a double booking. What crap. But that did not prevent Felix and me from performing a couple of songs at the Highlander and blowing away the crowd of five people that remained there until 1:30 AM. And then I was able to make the wonderful and profound announcement about our upcoming concert – IE, that it was cancelled….

Between times while waiting on the long, long waiting list, we dropped off at the Cavern to listen to the vocal jam band at work, especially because there is a great lead guitarist there I wanted Felix to hear. Actually, I’d have loved it if we could have taken that stage over for a few minutes, but that’s not the way the jam there works.

So anyway, before I run off tonight to something else – a new thing – I am just slamming down this huge number of meaningless words and a bunch of video proof that I have indeed been active….