Sounds of Paris
I wanted to explore the open mic culture across Paris, where there doesn’t always have to be one strict plan but still brings people together through their shared love of poetry, jazz or singing. Paris is home to countless music venues and performances, ranging from professional productions in refined settings to dive bars where amateurs get their shot to perform in front of intimate, enthusiastic audiences. Each setting has its own special quality, where spectators and those brave enough to actually perform can both enjoy the experience alike.
Le Club des Poètes
Le Club des Poètes was established in 1961 in the 7th arrondissement of Paris by French poet Jean-Pierre Rosnay. The environment is primarily French-speaking but can still be enjoyed regardless of one’s proficiency, as the ambiance transports visitors to a Paris of the past.
The establishment remains in the family today, now run by Rosnay’s son, Blaise, who has made it his mission to continue to "make poetry contagious and inevitable," believing it to be “the anti-pollutant of the mental space."
From Tuesday to Saturday, they organize recitation events, typically beginning with well-known French poets or poems translated into French. After the planned recitation, they invite anyone in the room up to recite as long as they have it fully memorized.
38 Riv Jazz Club
The 38 Riv Jazz Club, in the heart of le Marais, hosts jam sessions after a headlining performance for professional and amateur musicians alike. With a piano, upright bass and drums on-site, musicians often arrive with their own instruments by the time the jam session begins around 11 p.m.
One thing to keep in mind about 38 Riv is that you must buy tickets for the show. Additionally, if you arrive in between sets, they won't be allowed to enter until the set ends.
Their concerts and jam sessions feature both up-and-coming and professional musicians within the space of a vaulted 12th-century cellar. The vaulted stone ceiling, close proximity to the musicians and the bar tucked in the corner adds to the venue's allure. From jazz and Latin jazz to Brazilian music, funk and groove, 38 Riv is absolutely worth a visit.
The Pub
Transitioning to a more relaxed open mic, The Pub, just a couple blocks away from Place des Vosges, hosts open performances on Sunday nights in its intimate, or rather quite small, expat pub setting.
The walls are covered in vintage advertisements for various beer and wine companies, and quirky seat cushions caught my eye, printed with images of employees or customers enthusiastically lifting beers into the air.
Not dissimilar to other pub-based open mics, sign-ups for those wanting to perform begin at 7:30 p.m. The space was too small to accommodate larger instruments, but the singer played an acoustic guitar, accompanied by another man on an electric guitar.
While it was enjoyable to stop by this location, I found The Pub to be a better place to stop by for a short time, rather than making it the focus of the night the same way I would suggest with Le Club des Poètes or 38 Riv.
Final Impressions
Each place has its own distinct charm. Le Club des Poètes stands out from the other locations listed. While jazz clubs and dive bars are easy to find in Paris, Le Club des Poètes entirely transports you to a Paris of the past, its bohemian nature enriching the evening with cheap, good food and a wonderful ambiance.
The 38 Riv Jazz Club offers its own intimate charm in a medieval cellar setting. In addition to their lineup of incredibly talented musicians, the mix of preplanned elements and spontaneity in the jam sessions adds a certain vitality to performances.
The Pub, the last on the list, was enjoyable but not as entertaining as the other locations I visited. However, it represents a genre of open mic that is far more approachable to the average person, which makes it special in its own right. Most of us haven't memorized sonnets in French, and most of us aren't trained musicians, but we can all enjoy a pint with friends and sing, whether we're in tune or not!
