This was one of my favourite gigs of late.

Firstly it was Didier Lestrade’s photo exhibition aftershow. I’ve known Didier for a few years now, we became close after running Otra Otra, possibly my favourite DJ residency in Paris, for nearly two years at La Boule Noire 2004-2006. Back in the 90s I’d only heard of him, through his militant work for ACT UP, which he founded in France in the days when the AIDS epidemic was causing a lot of damage (though it’s not over yet), and also through his pieces of musical journalism for French daily paper, Liberation, when house music was barely represented in mainstream record stores. A very respected man indeed who talks a lot of sense and knows when to stand up and be counted. He doesn’t live in paris anymore, he works from his house in Southern Normandy, I don’t see him very much so it was great just to see him again and be part of the show as they say. Didier isn’t a photographer, but even so the pictures he took are damn good, they are of faces he met, some famous some not, when he founded “Magazine” the first gay fanzine (in France at least I think) in the early 80s. I really love this guy, he’s so obsessed with detail, he used to clean the toilets in the Boule Noire, put joss sticks backstage and then spread talcum powder on the wooden floor (I reckon he nicked that idea from the Northern Soul nights in the UK the 70s) just before the club opened just so as it would look nice for the first few people coming through the doors. His pieces of journalism are fantastic. When I moved to France from England, I always missed that extra bit of excitement and humour that is so well conveyed in articles by British writers about sport or a particular music scene for example. I think Didier was the only French writing journalist ever to capture that and then make it his own, taking it onto another level with his focus on detail and all round loved up slant on things. Today he’s involved in a host of things, you can check out his blog to find out more, or connect to ‘minorités‘ a very conscious blog of which he is part, that defends minority groups throughout the world. The photo exhibition is still going on at the moment here at gallerie 12mail in Paris and music lovers should definitely get their hands on a copy of “Chroniques du dancefloor” which covers selected record reviews Didier did in Liberation between 1988 and 1999. It appropriately costs the price of a 12 inch vinyl record!

Secondly I had the chance to meet Daniel Wang again. Daniel is a very buoyant person with infectious energy that can bounce back at you. Also he’s a bit of a tekkie guy, and he’s not afraid to hide it, which is rare in these creative circles, where interest for anything technical can be unfortunately perceived as a bore. So we really got on well especially as we talked about acoustics which is my second part time, day time job, yes I am a tekkie too! Danny doesn’t drink nor do anything else, he’s just got this electrical energy about him that’s very catchy, we must have covered 5 different topics in the space of ten minutes between the moment the music stopped and when he jumped into a cab. He’s written this great article about discotheque acoustics that every club owner, dj and producer should read. Very inspiring ! So I have decided to write my own article on acoustics too that should appear on here very shortly.

Getting back to the music anyway. I was a bit weary about playing last in line at 430 am on a thursday night. Even at Le Rex they don’t fill up Thursdays like they used to maybe 10 years back when it was definitely the night to go out on in Paris (only Le Pulp has succeeded since and they have been closed down for over 2 years). So I was wondering if I was actually going to play at all.

Patrick Vidal started off first laying down the kind of atmosphere that you want to get started in a club. Patrick is one hell of a dj, I know him well now and I think he’s the dj I’ve played with most, ever. I’ll find some time to write a few words about him in a later post as he deserves it in my opinion definitely. Then came Morgan Geist, of Metro Area fame, playing the sort of edgy disco and early house sounds that have inspired him and Darshan Jesrani to make such class music. Daniel Wang was on at 3am. That’s make or break time, especially on a thursday night, but he put so much energy and enthusiasm into his djing that he turned the Rex into second party, as if people had come back through the doors all over again. It completely distilled my fears of an empty room and it was so easy for me to ride the wave and play right after him, taking the night to an end with Daniel Wang himself and a young african kid vogueing elegantly to the music in front of me.

Redbull music academy recorded the whole night so check the links at the end of this article to listen to Patrick Vidal, Daniel Wang and myself. Morgan Geist’s set is not available but he has a show on Redbull academy you can check out.