Open mics I experienced in Paris

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I am on holiday in France at the moment with my parents.
I attended two open mics in Paris, and oh my goodness I am very impressed.
These two open mics were unlike anything I've experienced in England so far... there was a lot of variety with the other musicians there... there were people from various places - France of course, Ecuador, Japan, and myself from England and probably people from various other Countries as well.
The music was at a high standard, and it was good, genuine quality... it wasn't just the same old chart stuff or general commercial songs but people did various songs of all sorts in these two open mics. To be fair, it's not always like that where I go in England either, and I've seen musicians in England who could easily perform in the open mics I just went to - heck anyone can if they want to - but this really was something else for overall quality all round with the amount of musicians who did very well - this was a real gem of an experience for me.

I was able to appreciate the music from a humble point of view... in awe with some of the talent there... it really inspired me to improve, and the reception was very communal and accepting... I loved these two open mic gigs. I feel like a refreshed musician with more incentive to play and do what I do with a musical confidence.

I was also very touched by the friendly people there and the compliments I received, and I was able to easily return the compliments to them.
What a great couple of nights that was.

Hello samtoo,

I'm glad you had a good time in Paris.
It's always a pleasure when the tourists are happy of their holydays here.
(I've been a parisian myself for thirty years now and I still enjoy to "play the tourist in the postcard" )

I forgot to ask: what kind of music do you play?

Hello zena4.

Yes I enjoyed it very much, and it was great fun. I always feel rather difficult to accommodate for - being an anxious musician kind of person lol but I loved these open mic experiences.

What I play tends to be more in the regions of Rock... from the music I usually hear, in terms of English commercial music, I am very much more a fan of the 60's and 70's eras.

I enjoy The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Thin Lizzy, Dire Straits, etc.

I am also enjoying music that the musicians in the Robert Rodriguez films play.

In the first night, it was an Irish themed bar, so I played "Whiskey in the jar" (an acoustic interpretation of mine), "Sorrow" (a song by Bad Religion), a song of my own called "Freedom chained" and the Canadian musician Matt Andersen's version of the Bruce Springsteen song "I'm on fire".

The second night was very busy with more musicians wanting to play, so I could only do two songs but that's fine - the place was so lovely and the experience was so great, and it's good that there were so many people wanting to play.

The two songs I played for the second performance were "Malaguena Salerosa", which I heard from the band "Chingon", which comprises Robert Rodriguez and other skilled TexMex musicians. The second song I played was "Round and round" by Matt Andersen.

Malaguena Salerosa is actually a traditional Mexican song I think... I'm not entirely sure how old it is but "Chingon" decided to give it a rock feel, and I heard it in films.

I am quite good. I am not accomplished and my voice still could do with some maturing, but I do well... I am a good guitarist, although I am not a great one yet by any means - there's soooo much I still don't know how to do and techniques and theory I don't yet know (I am lacking in theory knowledge), but I can be happy with what I can do at the moment.

Are you French, if I may ask then?

Yes, I am.
But I was born and grew up far away from Paris first.

Thanks for your long answer and feeling glad again for you and your parents to be happy here.

Thank you very much, zena. I shall visit Paris again. I could do with a few places that accommodate for my personality in such a way and I think Paris does.

Have a very good day, zena.

Aaah...icic. This isn't about Open mic poetry. ^-^;

As a Detroiter, 'open mic' refers to free for all poetry events.

That is interesting to know, infoseeker. Thank you for the shared knowledge.
In England, open mic generally refers to music, but I guess the expression can also refer to poetry in England, but when I hear the term open mic, I would naturally think of music, but then I am a musician so that's what I look for.
Poetry is very interesting too however, and one day I might attend an open mic for poetry - I like writing some poems myself.

It would not be out of place however for me to read a poem in some music open mics.