A report on France’s Tsugi Party

A report on France’s Tsugi Party

26 October, 2007 | 3.00PM

• Section: Music News
• Written by: Gérome Darmendrail

When the doormen need to use their pepper spray to push away the crowd, can it be said that the party is a success?

Those who took the spray in the eyes will probably answer that it’s not.

But for the more fortunate 3000 people inside the club, it definitely was a success — maybe even the party of the year. 

Because when there is a riot in front of the club, it generally means there’s something worth checking out inside.

And there was.

The Tsugi magazine launch party, which took place on Wednesday night at La Loco in Paris, offered a line-up that presented an complete panorama of the French scene.

The dark side was approached with Miss Kittin & The Hacker, who were on the cover of the first Tsugi issue on October.

The new side was presented with Justice, Surkin and Pilooski.

The minimal side was offered with Jennifer Cardini, Danton Eeprom and Paul Ritch.

And then there was the web side, with Fluokids and Get The Curse, two influential online French music blogs.

Finally, there was the godfather, Laurent Garnier, who was the special guest for the night.

Since Garnier moved to South of France, it’s become rare to see him in Paris.

It wasn’t completely unexpected to see such an attractive line-up.

Tsugi was launched by the former Trax team after Technikart bought their magazine this summer, and Parisian clubbers knew the Trax parties as events that could not be missed.

In 2003, 2 Many DJ’s, Ellen Allien, Luciano and Ivan Smagghe rocked La Scala.

In 2005, it was Vitalic, Mathew Jonson, Agoria and Etienne de Crécy at La Loco.

Last year, Erol Alkan, Justice, Para One and Modeselktor were lighting fires at La Cité des Sciences.

Despite the fact that it’s usually dedicated to mainstream commercial music, La Loco is the perfect place for this kind of party.

Close to the Moulin Rouge, it’s one of the oldest clubs in Paris, and the largest one.

You can get lost through the club’s maze of rooms and stairs, and its unique décor gives off an atmosphere that’s strange, dirty, industrial and outdated.

When Miss Kittin & The Hacker started their back-to-back set at 11, the main room was nearly full, with partial thanks to a pre-party and an open bar.

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the former electroclash superheroes together, and the beginning of their set was hesitant.

But by the end, the duo had the crowd dancing, giving them a great mix of electronic body music, Detroit electro, minimal techno and acid house.

Miss Kittin & The Hacker finished with selections from their newest release, the magical ‘Hometown EP’.

By that time, the club was full and hot, and everybody was waiting for the new French Touch superheroes: Justice (too bad for Pilooski, who was playing at the same time in another room).

Justice opened their set with a dance hit from the 1990s, 20 Fingers’ ‘Short Dick Man’.

Several hits followed by MSTRKRFT, Soulwax and Zongamin, keeping the pressure on the crowd until the end.

With no shortage of big kicks, big basses and big energy, the crowd went crazy.

In fact, the place was too crowded to dance; people just moved and put their arms in the air.

Much like a rock concert, some people from the crowd jumped from the stage and slammed.

Smoking twenty cigarettes an hour, Justice seemed imperturbable, and ended their set with a perfect triptych; first, they played their own hit, ‘Never Be Alone’, mixed with Stardust’s ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ and then Prodigy’s ‘Voodoo People’.

After the crowd’s applause had come down from its roar, Laurent Garnier [right] got behind the decks and dropped a Nirvana track.

Then, he went deeper with a journey through old-school rave and techno tracks, before finishing with hip hop and drum & bass.

Eclectic and inspired, Garnier is still the boss.

The final DJ in the main room, Jennifer Cardini offered a perfect end-of-the-night set: minimal, dark and druggy.

Unfortunately for us, we weren’t able to make our way to the second room talent of Danton Eeprom, Paul Ritch and Surkin, but according to the crowd, they didn’t disappoint.

Which was also the case for the blog room with Fluokids and Get The Curse, but all reports suggest their sets were fresh and groovy.

There was one DJ that was impossible to miss: Toilet Disco, for the very fact that they played in the main restroom for the entire night — and that was a first for everyone.

In keeping with the spirit for the entire night, Toilet Disco’s set was yet another way to add a special twist to a great party.

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