Brad Spurgeon's Blog

A world of music, auto racing, travel, literature, chess, wining, dining and other crazy thoughts….

Update of Thumbnail Guide to Melbourne Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music – And a New Approach to the Guides…From You

June 14, 2017
bradspurgeon

Melbourne Skyline

Melbourne Skyline

After creating a total of 26 Thumbnail Guides to open mics in 26 different cities around the world – and almost as many countries – the year 2017 marks the end (at least for the moment) of the world travels that enabled me to create these guides. This year, after more than 20 years covering Formula One auto racing around the world, I have opted to live a more sedentary life as I finish all sorts of personal projects – my film, books, music, etc. But the result is that these open mic guides risk going out of date. In fact, I have now come up with a potential solution: I will update all the guides via confirming the open mics I have visited still exist (using various methods, including the Internet), and for the first time, I want to open up the guides to the users to make contributions.

If you are interested, read all about that on my updated Thumbnail Guide to Melbourne Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music, my first guide after the original one that was about Paris open mics.

An Update to My Paris Open Mic Guide

June 9, 2017
bradspurgeon

Thumbnail Open Mic Guide

Thumbnail Open Mic Guide

Just a note to say that I have updated my open mic city guide, The Thumbnail Guide to Paris Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music.

The last time I updated, in March, I brought the sad new of the closing of the Caveau des Oubliettes. Now, I bring great news in the recent addition of an absolutely fabulous Paris open mic, which takes place at the Rush Bar on Mondays (heading for its 20th edition this Monday). I have also tweaked bits and pieces throughout the rest of the guide to try to keep it as up-to-date as possible.

So The Thumbnail Guide to Paris Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music, remains the most extensive and up-to-date guide of the Paris open mic scene. Check it out!

An Update to My Paris Open Mic Guide

March 29, 2017
bradspurgeon

Thumbnail Open Mic Guide

Thumbnail Open Mic Guide

Just a note to say that I have updated my open mic city guide, The Thumbnail Guide to Paris Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music, for the first time since last June.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest open mics and jam sessions in Paris has now ceased: Caveau des Oubliettes. How such and institution could disappear is beyond imagining. I have also updated information in Brislee’s open mic at the Café Oz at place Blanche, as the bar has changed its name to La Fabrique – and I’ve updated the times Brislee runs the evening, since I realized it was slightly out of date – and I have also now shifted over, yet again, the Tennessee Bar open mic from the Thursday back to the Tuesday – and apparently we can forget its traditional date of Monday! I have also updated the shifting scene at the Oasis 244 bar, with its three open musical nights per week. There are other open mics in Paris, of course, that I have not even put on the list, as I only put those I attend, and there are several new ones I have not attended….

But The Thumbnail Guide to Paris Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music, remains the most extensive and up-to-date guide of the Paris open mic scene. Check it out!

An Update to My Paris Open Mic Guide

June 17, 2016
bradspurgeon

Thumbnail Open Mic Guide

Thumbnail Open Mic Guide

Just a note to say that I have updated my main open mic city guide, The Thumbnail Guide to Paris Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music.

I removed the open mic of the Bombardier, and I added a couple of new ones which I should have added long ago, but for some reason did not, as these open mics – the one at the Féline and the one at the Paradis – have been around for a while now, and are both excellent in their own ways. I also added information about the Baryton, which actually takes place on three days a week….

Update of Thumbnail Guide to Melbourne Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music

April 3, 2016
bradspurgeon

Melbourne Skyline

Melbourne Skyline

MANAMA, Bahrain – I may be in Bahrain at the moment, and so I may be on to other open mics in a different part of the world, but it was time to catch up with the unfinished business of updated my Thumbnail Guide to Melbourne Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music, the city I played in two weeks ago.

I have added a new open mic – Station 59 – to the list, and updated some other details – including the changes made to the Great Britain Hotel open mic, so take a visit to my Thumbnail Guide to Melbourne Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music.

So check it out!

An Update to My Paris Open Mic Guide

January 8, 2016
bradspurgeon

Thumbnail Open Mic Guide

Thumbnail Open Mic Guide

Just a note to say that I have updated my main open mic city guide, The Thumbnail Guide to Paris Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music.

I removed the open mics of the Kolok and the Café Oz Denfert, neither of which exist anymore (Café Oz Blanche still thrives!!!), and I added three open mics on Monday night, two of which are located on the rue de Lappe! I also added the open mic of the Nul Bar Ailleurs, not too far from the rue de Lappe either, but on Tuesdays….

Worldwide Open Mic Thumbnail Guide: Mexico City Edition

November 10, 2015
bradspurgeon

Mexico City

Mexico City

For my 24th city installment of my worldwide open mic guide today I am loading my Mexico City page. As a reminder, it all started with my now very popular Thumbnail Guide to Paris Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music, and due to that guide’s success, I decided this year to do a similar guide for each of the cities I travel to during my worldwide open mic tour.

HUGE Mexico City, MUCH music, but not Exactly Full of Open Mics

Mexico City is like around 21 million people in population, and located in Latin America. So you would expect it to be full of musical jams and open mics. After all, what a guitar-making industry! They make the famous Mexican Stratocasters, they make a lot of the Taylor guitars today as well. And when I was there, I saw all sorts of neat guitars and other instruments in several music shops. But I found only ONE open mic. Having said that, it was just my first and only visit to Mexico City, and as a first time visitor, this is NOT an easy to visit. So I’m hoping that with readers’ feedback, and further adventures of my own in Mexico City, I will eventually be able to find more open mics and jam sessions.

Worldwide Open Mic Guide Philosophy

The only guide I am really in a good position to update regularly is that of Paris, since I live there. But I decided to do guides to all the other more than 20 cities on my worldwide open mic tour in order to give the knowledge I have personally of each city’s open mics. The guide has links to sites I know of local guides that may be more up-to-date, but I have chosen to list the open mics or jam sessions that I have played in myself. There may be others that I know of, but if I have not played there, I will not include it on the list. That way, the user learns a little of my own impressions. But I cannot be as certain that the guide is up-to-date – so check before you go.

So here, now, in any case is the Thumbnail Guide to Mexico City Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music. Please do help me whenever you have information to give me on venues.

An Update to My Singapore Open Mic Guide

September 22, 2015
bradspurgeon

Ritz Carlton Singapore

Ritz Carlton Singapore

Just a note to say that I have updated my Singapore open mic city guide, The Thumbnail Guide to Singapore Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music.

I have added The Beast open mic to my main list of places I have played in, I have added some links, and I have tried to highlight other links, since my WordPress environment is absolute crap when it comes to display of hyperlinks to the reader – you.

An Update to My Montreal Open Mic Guide – and a Reminder of Tonight’s Pigalle open mic

June 26, 2015
bradspurgeon

Montreal

Montreal

Just a note to say that I have updated my Montreal open mic city guide, The Thumbnail Guide to Montreal Open Mics, Jam Sessions and other Live Music.

I have added at least three open mics, and removed the one at the Bull, a pub that just closed down while I was in Montreal earlier this month. I’m so happy to have tasted of four different open mics on that last trip that I had not yet performed in – Mariposa, Medley Simple Malt, l’Escalier and Bar de Courcelle!

Noctambules

Noctambules

And just a reminder that tonight is another edition of Raphaëlle’s open mic at the Noctambules bar on the Place Pigalle in Paris; a fabulous new open mic in a fabulous old location, with a dream feeling to it since you play behind a mic facing out into the famous, legendary Place Pigalle. (Or you sit on the terrace as a member of the audience and listen to the music and look at the Place too….

Powered by WordPress.com.