I clearly felt the effects of the summertime at the open mic at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance. There were just as many people attending, or more, than usual, but there were fewer of the regulars, and there were tourists. In short, it was as jam-packed as usual, but somehow felt different – summer in the air.
I took a few videos, but the one I wished I took the most – for once – and didn’t, was my duet with Emma Guignebert. I tried singing “It’s all over now, Baby Blue,” of Bob Dylan. The hard thing about doing the same open mics in one place so often is trying to find enough material that you feel confident about to vary the show. There is just no point going and singing the same three songs all the time. But that Dylan song is one that I feel I get right very rarely, and usually then it is only when I’m in my own living room all by myself. Last night I was so stressed out about it that I not only felt I was not doing the best job, but I stumbled over and forgot a line or two here and there.
That threw me off so much that I was desperate to change the course of history, and I saw Emma sitting in the “front row” and asked if she knew “Mad World,” and she said she did, so I coaxed her up to join me on it. There, I felt much, much more relaxed and actually enjoyed myself immensely with Emma’s harmonies. Wish I’d got that on video. You can see Emma in her duet just after mine with her.
I am baffled every time I still get up behind the mic and feel human and vulnerable! But that is precisely what live performance is all about….