Nina Lili J Setlist

Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash cover)
La Bohème (Charles Aznavour cover)
Imagine (John Lennon cover)
Les Champs-Élysées (Joe Dawson cover)
Stand by Me (Ben E King cover)
La Vie en Rose (Edith Piaf cover)
Love Yourself (Justin Bieber cover)
Touls Les garçons et les filles (François Hardy cover)
Perfect (Ed Sheeran cover)
Tulsa Time (Don Williams cover)

I am in Paris for work, so I came early to do some sightseeing. I am staying near Montmartre and decided to just wander around the neighborhood known for its art scene since the 1890’s (Le Chat Noir, for example). There is a lovely museum, Musee de Montmartre, which is housed in the oldest, still- standing house in Montmartre and has an impressive collection of art by the artists who called the building their home over a ~50-year stretch. There is also an amazing cemetery, which is NOT where Jim Morrison is buried and, of course, Sacre Coeur, known best as the ultimate fight scene in John Wick 4.

Why am I telling you all of this? Just setting the stage for my chance encounter with an amazing singer strumming her guitar and captivating the crowd on a – just about the most Montmartre of Montmartre street corners in all of Montmartre. As I was heading from the cemetery to the Place du Tertre to check out the wares from local (living) artists, I turned off of a boulevard onto a little rue and heard a woman singing “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. I, of course, stopped to listen. As she finished the song, I loudly applauded expecting others to do the same, which they didn’t. She smiled and thanked me for being brave. I asked her if she could play Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt”. She said she could probably make her way through it, but it is not the type of song that does well on a street corner when one is trying to make money. Fair point. We both agreed that it’s a hauntingly beautiful song and a pity that not everyone was open to the aching and despair it creates. Knowing her audience, she delicately slipped into “La Boheme”, which absolutely increased the number of folks who stopped, listened and even sang along. About 3/4s of the way through the song, a full-sized city bus (see pictures below) turned the corner onto this tiny street. Rather than block her from her audience he stopped with his window open and let us all enjoy the close of the song. We all applauded her and the bus driver for his kind gesture while he applauded the performance. Up next, John Lennon’s “Imagine”. At this point the crowd was large enough that it caused passerbys to just stick around. She encouraged us to sing along for the chorus, which people more or less did.

“Les Champs-Élysées” brought us back to French songs and got the biggest response from the crowd so far with most singing along nicely. After every song a few people would throw money (mostly coins) into her tin. She made a lot of money with that song. There were quite a few children who darted up, deposited their coin while looking at mom and dad, and then dashed back. Nina (I’ll start calling our singer Nina now since that’s her name and this is about the time I learned it) let the crowd know how much she appreciated the coins and especially when it came from children. Her banter with the crowd was mostly in English, which, along with our initial conversation, made me think she was American. During a slight pause I asked her a few questions. One of which was, where in the states are you from? She felt proud that I thought she was American (pretty sure) because of how it reflected on her English (as opposed to wanting to be thought of as an American), which was fluent and lacking in a French accent. I also learned that she has been playing music for ~20 years since she was a young teenager. She toured with a band, and they played large venues all over Europe. This stressed her out, so she took some time off from music to be a shepherd. You know, classic co-career stuff. She’s been back to music in the form of busking for almost 2 years and makes enough to pay the bills doing it. That should give you a sense of her skill.

She started back up with “Stand By Me”, which a surprising number of young people in the crowd knew. Edith Piaf’s signature hit “La Vie en Rose”, as you would imagine was very well received and allowed her voice to shine. Sticking with the every-other format, she played “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber. I recognized the song but had to ask for help for title and artist from a youngster in the crowd. “Tous les Garcons et les Filles” by Françoise Hardy, another crowd favorite, was interrupted briefly by a honking driver looking to get past the crowd, which, other than one man filming Nina, had moved out of the way. She took the opportunity to display grace and ask us all to be patient with the impatient driver. Acknowledging that we probably all get impatient at times and it sucks when it happens – an artist and a street therapist! On to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”. I would not call myself an Ed Sheerean fan but hearing that song performed with excellent female vocals was special and really made me appreciate it. Again, midway through the song, Nina was interrupted. This time by a garbage collection truck. Like the bus, they paused to acknowledge and her artistry. She led us in applause for “the garbage collectors who keep our streets clean”; they replied in kind. In a world that seems to be falling to shit, it’s nice to see moments of kindness and joy. Thank you, garbage collectors. I was amazed by her ability to slightly pause mid-song, saying merci to a patron leaving a coin or two for her, or fully stop as she just did, AND then just pick right back up where she had left off. That’s truly an impressive cognitive feat.

As I dropped some money in her tip can, she thanked me for listening and played me off with “Tulsa Time” by Don Williams. It was fun to leave the show the way I joined, with Nina’s voice filling my ears and marveling at the quaint beauty of Montmartre. Since starting to review music, I have gained an appreciation for the different venues where music presents itself. An earlier version of myself would have stayed for one song and then been on my way, which would have resulted in missing all of the artistry, joy, appreciation, joie de vivre, and je ne sais pas of the concert. Merci pour un spectacle merveilleux, Nina.