A Parisian Clubbing State of Mind

A Parisian Clubbing State of Mind

21 September, 2007 | 1.19PM

• Written by: Gérome Darmendrail
• Filed under: Music News: justice

If you ask someone from France about politics, the economy, sports — or just about anything — they will probably tell you that it’s better outside of his or her home country.

Just as the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, the club situation in France is no different.

People in Paris are convinced that night life is harder, better, faster and stronger in London, Berlin or Barcelona.

And in a way, they’re right.

Drinks in Parisian clubs are much too expensive, and it would be difficult to say that the patrons are crazy or eccentric.

Terms used by Parisians themselves like “snob” and “cold” seem more appropriate.

Moreover, French police keep pressure on the clubs, repeatedly attempting to close one of them for drug or noise violations.

But when it comes to artist line-ups and club programs, Paris has no need to be ashamed.

From Wednesday to Sunday — and sometimes even on Monday and Tuesday — you can hear some of the best international DJs; it’s rare not to be tempted into an exciting party every week.

This summer, following tradition, the established ‘Respect’ parties, which happen Wednesday nights on the wonderful Concorde-Atlantique boat, have been a main attraction.

Taking part in ‘Respect’ are pioneers such as Dennis Ferrer and David Mancuso, hip DJs like Switch or Prins Thomas, and all the ‘French Touch 2.0’ crew — represented by Justice, Para One, Ed Banger, Institubes [main picture], Surkin [right] and its family.

When ‘Respect’ ends at the beginning of September, it traditionally means that time has come for change and a brand new season. New clubs, new residencies and new tendencies…

Oddly, this new “rentrée”, as the French say, has been quiet.

Some new places have opened, but nothing very exciting; the main reason for this is the closing of club Le Pulp [below].

For a decade, Le Pulp was one of the most interesting clubs of the French capital — before the building where it was located was sold.

Le Pulp was an open-minded lesbian hangout where straight guys were welcomed, and where Ivan Smagghe — famous for his ‘Kill The DJ’ nights with residents Chloé and Jennifer Cardini.

It was also where English DJs such as Andrew Weatherall, Ewan Pearson and Erol Alkan used to play.

Hearing the news, Weatherall reminisced and spoke of “a real tragedy”.

“I loved that club,” he added, “because it was small, dark and decadent, and full of people who formed a sort of Euro-trash aristocracy.

“In a way, it reminded me Shoom in London.

“It’s sad, but somewhere, it’s a good thing, because the legend will never die.”

The legend could be born again, as the former owners of Le Pulp are working on reopening the club.

But life goes on for Parisian clubbers, and this year, electronic music lovers will continue to dance in established venues such as Rex Club, Le Triptyque, Nouveau Casino and Batofar.

Le Triptyque hopes to attract people with its free entrance policy, while Rex Club still bets on its huge sound system, upgraded last year.

Some of the new places that have opened are mostly small clubs with a 200-person capacity, like A L’affiche, L’Alternative or La Pomme d’Eve.

Since Studio 287 failed in his attempt to open a superclub in Paris at the beginning of the decade, the tendency is small clubs.

In the urban weekly magazine ‘A Nous Paris’, Edouard Rostand compared the club situation to Chris Anderson’s ‘long tail’ theory, saying “instead of five big clubs with 1000 people inside, we have thirty clubs with 200 people”.

But contrary to Anderson’s theory, these clubs don’t really specialized in one style.

Trying to apply the successful methods of places like the trendy La Flèche d’Or, clubs try to mix live shows and DJ sets in an eclectic way: rock, hip hop and electro are welcomed.

Of course, big events still continue in Paris.

A strong tendency is to organize big parties in places not necessarily dedicated to dance music; this is what promoters need to do when they want to appeal to more than one thousand people.

Consequently, you can find electronic music nights taking place almost every week in indie-rock venues such as Elysée-Montmartre, Bataclan and Cabaret Sauvage.

Famous parties like ‘Open House’ and ’Panik’ have paved the way — even if ‘Panik’ had to recently ask for some help from the hip bloggers from Fluokids.

More infrequently, electronic music events are located in large commercial discos traditionally dedicated to mainstream pop music, like La Loco or La Scala.

Such is the case for the ‘Tsugi’ magazine launch party at La Loco on October 24th, where Justice, Surkin, Jennifer Cardini, Danton Eeprom and Pilooski [right] are expected.

For years, the promoters from We Love Art have chosen the bold move of organizing their parties in places absolutely not dedicated to music, hosting memorable nights in unique locations such as a TV studio, giant swimming-pool or over La Grande Arche de la Défense.

This year is sure to be no exception.

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