Zénith, Paris. That's a concert place. Not a disused warehouse in the suburb. I've never been to such a big event in Paris. You know, since a culture minister started to go to "rave parties" and encourage the electronic culture whereas at the same time the ministry of defense was fighting the drug problem related to techno music according to him, there have been a number of significant parties in unexpected places. Bercy, a huge sport complex which can host competitions from snow boarding to wind surfing and big pop / rock concerts, with Metropole Techno (Carl Cox broadcasted live from The End in London). L'Arche de la Defense, right in the center of the business quarter in Paris, with Happyland. The old roman arena in Nïmes, south of France, where you expect to see some controversial bull / man fight, with Borealis. Anyway, here we are in Le Zénith.
The house music floor, called Pumping zone, hosted a variety of djs : some locals such as David Duriez, some more famous in France or in Europe, such as Superfunk, Lake Soul and Phunky Data, some others, one in particular, who is more of a cult dj : DJ Pierre from Chicago. They were playing from the truck which participated during the afternoon at the Techno Parade, a pale copy of Berlin's Love Parade, but give it a few more years, and it should be a successful event. We haven't stayed very long in the "Pumping" zone, but the music played there was good, I even caught myself thinking "that's cool" (you have to know that I don't like house music at all) !
The main floor, which is in fact the concert place itself, was called Urban Dance area. A nice selection of Djs there. Roland Casper played a good set, quite hard, but dynamic.The only live performance followed with Zombie Nation. The Germans once again impressed the crowd with their rubber and spikes costumes, S&M style. Very good, and probably one to remember tonight. Rolando got the decks afterwards, and started his set (will he ever get bored ?) with Knights Of the Jaguar. Good time, still groovy techno. Josh Wink then arrived and surprised everybody with a clear cut in style : mix of techno, house and breakbeat. Jack de Marseille (from Marseille in Southern France as its name tells) played a strong techno set, I'm tempted to say as everybody else on this floor (apart from Josh Wink). The italian Marco Carola continued and did change the style. Loud and hypnotising techno, over charged. Some people were actually getting the last highs and loved it, some others thought "oh, it's time to leave" !
Our short visits to the chill-out floor were nice. Liza'n'Eliaz mixed a very various set : experimental, electro, break beat, even a little bit trancy at times. Miloch with his friend Ralph didn't play hard techno as usual but minimal deep techno. It's been surprisingly refreshing to hear a different sound from them two.
One thing which all floors had in common was one track. We've heard it 4 or 5 times that night. French Kiss. On the house floor, on the chill-out floor, on the techno floor. Who would have expected that it becomes an anthem ?
Futuria Production website
Thierry, 08/10/2000