Paris
The complete Paris gig guide plus our pick of the latest albums & singles.
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.
Rock, roots & jazz
If you envisaged catching late-night gig, best think again. Trendsetters may flock to Paris to meet, plan and jam, but many punters complain that the powers-that-be – the people who dreamed up the lutte contre le bruit, or noise clampdown – are spoiling the party. Playing live often means a 10.30pm finish or the cops pulling the plug if things rise above 75 decibels. Venues like Triptyque, Nouveau Casino and Point Ephemère, all with a varied showcase of contemporary sounds, are fighting an ongoing battle to persuade the authorities that increased sound-levels will not bring social meltdown.
But it’s not all bad. The banlieue raps on, currently to the strains of TTC, La Rumeur and Le Remède; and should you like your Francophonia delivered by husky-voiced ladies in smoky bars, you’ll be glad to know la chanson française continues to thrive.
On similarly solid foundations is the city’s rep as an international hotspot for jazz and blues. Established venues like New Morning, Sunset and Caveau de la Huchette have been hosting big names for years, and few arrondissements are without a similarly hip cellar. The multi-disciplinary Théâtre du Châtelet is also a prime purveyor of big-name jazz with its annual Bleu sur Scène festival. Then again, Paris has a lively world music scene – often Arabic and African – at places like Le Bataclan, and the inevitable US and UK indie acts and rocktagenarians drop by on tour to places like Olympia and La Cigale.
Listings can be found in the weekly Zurban and Les Inrockuptibles, whose online database at www.lesinrocks.com has all that’s hot in town. Bi-monthly Lylo is distributed free at Fnac and in bars such as La Fourmi. Virgin Megastore and Fnac each operate a ticket office. Get to a gig at the time stated on the ticket; owing to curfews, concerts usually start on time – not an hour after the doors open.
Cabaret
A century after cancan was born, busty babes are still slinking across the cabaret stages of Paris. The Moulin Rouge created the concept in 1889 with skirt-raising called Quadrille Réaliste (later coined the cancan). Since then, the addition of glitzy venues like Le Lido institutionalised garter-pinging forever. These days a cabaret is an all-evening, €100, smart-dress extravaganza, served with a pre-show gourmet meal and champers. Male dancers, acrobats and magicians complement the foxy foxtrots; the dancing is synchronised, the costumes beautiful, and the whole caboodle unreservedly respectable. The Moulin Rouge is the most traditional glamour revue and the only place with cancan.
Toulouse-Lautrec posters, glittery lamp-posts and fake trees lend tacky charm, while 60 Doriss dancers cover every inch of the stage with faultless synchronisation. Costumes are flamboyant, the entr’acte acts funny and the sets solid: one daring number even takes place inside a giant tank of underwater boa constrictors. Sadly, elbow room is nil, with hundreds of tables and bodies packed in like sardines. But if you can bear intimacy with international businessmen, the Moulin Rouge, the cheapest of the food-serving cabarets, won’t disappoint.
For space go to Le Lido. With 1,000 seats, this classy venue is the largest, priciest cabaret of the lot: the art nouveau hall’s high-tech touches (descending balcony and disappearing lamps) optimise visibility, and star chef Paul Bocuse has revolutionised the menu. The slightly tame show, with 60 Bluebell Girls, has boob-shaking, wacky costumes and numerous oddities: courtesan cats meeting Charlie Chaplin for example.
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14 Comments
anyone know of indie clubs? desperately need to know as i can't find info anywhere on this.
thanks Posted on May 30 2008 11:24
Please, please help - thanks luvvie's xx Posted on Mar 27 2008 17:29
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