Aux 2 Pianos Open Mic

The home of Bernard and Claudia had an open concept foyer. Against the far wall was a collection of cooking appliances to mark the area that served as their kitchen. On the right side of the foyer, a partial wall separated the main area and the “music room”, a space with virtually every square inch filled with instruments. Along with the two pianos and full drum set that filled the majority of the space were a variety of string and wind instruments, many of the smaller ones hanging on the walls. Where before the space had been mostly open for their daughter Lali to play with our 18 month old, Felix, now the entire room was lined with benches, and packed with people who milled around, conversed, and greeted each other with smiles and a kiss on each cheek.

“It’s a no judgement space, and anyone can choose to perform, or not,” Claudia explained after either of us would be participating in the open mic night we were attending. My first instinct had been to say no, internally curling up in horror at the thought of performing in front of a crowd of strangers. I didn’t have any particular musical talent.

“Maybe we’ll just watch this time,” Nate replied.

“Some people play, some sing, some read poetry or a story,” Claudia suggested. “Just let me know if you want to do something.”

I met Nate’s gaze after she left, feeling like maybe one of us was obligated to perform.

I hadn’t expected the room to be packed like it was when we had been invited by Claudia and Bernard to attend. Servies-en-Val’s population numbered just over 200 people, and all we’d seen in way of advertisement were a handful of signs posted around town.

Lali spotted us among the crowd and pranced over to greet Felix. She had really taken to our one year old, and he was delighted to have a kid to play with. It had been because of Felix that we had met Bernard and Claudia in the first place. I had been at our house-sit working when Nate and Felix went to the next town to buy more bread. Felix had always been drawn to music, so he stopped to listen to the piano that they could hear drifting outside of Aux 2 Pianos. Bernard had noticed them watching, and invited them in for lunch, and the whole family back for dinner! We’d handed Bernard the bottle of wine that we had brought along as a thank you gift. Bernard raised his eyebrows as he studied the bottle, informing us that he’d grown up in the building where it was brewed! We’d had a good time talking to their son Pablo, who was practicing English in preparation for a trip, and Lali had prepared a cake with a candle in it for us, and had been so excited she could barely wait to bring it out!

Nate and I found a bench to sit on as we waited for the show to start. Felix was fascinated by Lali and a couple of other kids her age who were doing front rolls on a mat in front of us. The fun continued until Bernard announced the first person who would be performing, at which point the kids were sent away to find seats.

A couple came up to sing a duet, the woman skipping around as she sang her part, and the man leaning in, giving her fleeting glances when he sang. They both laughed on occasion as they stumbled with the lyrics and had to refer to their song sheet to get back on track. That was the spirit of the whole night, jovial, accepting, and fun. There was a lot of talent in the room!

Nate and I took turns chasing Felix through the crowd whenever he’d had enough of sitting still. He was fast, small, and adept at weaving through people, where we were big and clumsy trying to keep up with him. There was a room in the back where he could play, and Lali came back with us a few times. The back room was full of food! We had not realized that everyone would bring food with them, and there was so much that we could almost have skipped dinner.

In the end Nate decided to participate. He sang “It’s a Wonderful World” with Felix on his lap, a song that he often sang to Felix at bed time.