Paris

Nightlife

The French capital‘s after-dark strengths are, first and foremost, its scenery, closely followed by its cinemas, bars and restaurants. And although there‘s a good deal going on music-wise, not much of the loud variety is heard late, thanks to stringent anti-noise laws. Paris isn‘t really a clubbing city, either.

But none of that means the place doesn’t supply (and enjoy) a good range of down ’n’ dirty nocturnal entertainment. Its nightclubs are a reliable source of surprises, and the locals are good fun once they let their hair down and stop playing it cool. And when it comes to music – especially jazz, blues and chanson – you’ll find more than enough going on to keep your feet tapping.

Nightclubs
Those who’d rather dance with a partner than trip out with BPMs, sweaty strangers and strobes have plenty of old-style discos to choose from. There’s the swing, be-bop and rock ’n’ roll after the jazz concerts at Le Slow Club, and a stream of school-disco-type nights where the DJ is no superstar but a humble spinner of tunes: check out the monthly Bal at Elysée Montmartre and Le Gala des Ringards at Le Divan du Monde. Salsa and world-music events are plentiful, too, with regular nights at Le Divan du Monde and elsewhere.

Hardcore clubbers need not go hungry, either. Dance music of every stripe gets an outing at the Paris version of Berlin’s Love Parade, the Techno Parade, which takes place in the middle of September and draws thousands into the street to dance. Then there are big clubs such as Queen and Redlight, which serve up more commercial mixes of house music, lasers and podium dancers to mainstream crowds. On the other hand, smaller venues like lesbian mainstay Pulp, Nouveau Casino and Triptyque tend to opt for a combination of house, techno and electro – often with a live music element to kick off.

It’s with the ‘after’ parties that things really get going; indeed, there are as many early Sunday morning events as there are Saturday-nighters. For standard house there are Folies Pigalle and Redlight, among others; for deep, progressive or minimal sounds, make tracks for Nouveau Casino. This said, hip hop and R&B fans will be surprised to see how under-represented is their favoured clubbing scene in comparison to the high record sales and radio play of said genres. Straightforward hip hop nights are held during the week at Triptyque; R&B is played on Wednesdays at Queen’s Break’n. For drum ’n’ bass the main nights are monthly Massive at Rex and I Love Jungle at a succession of hired venues. Trance and hardcore tend to stay outside Paris, with outdoor events organised by local collectives and sound systems, though a few crop up indoors.

Paris clubs don’t really get going until 2am, and people often hit a DJ bar beforehand. Many people visit several clubs in one night and finish their evening at an ‘after’ party on Sunday morning. This can be a costly way to go, but you can find quality DJing at free nights in certain clubs during the week. And free passes can be found on various flyers; flyer information is available at www.flyersweb.com. Other useful sites are www.novaplanet.com, www.radiofg.com and www.lemonsound.com, for house and techno events. Note that the last métro leaves at around 12.45am, and the first only gets rolling at 5.45am; in between those times you’ll have to get home by night bus or taxi.

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