One night in Paris
One of the great things about being in London is how quick and easy it is to get to other amazing cities. Last weekend I took advantage of the Eurostar red-eye special to head over to Paris for 16 hours.
We packed in a lot, starting with the modern art collection at the Pompidou Center - in my opinion the best single collection of modern art in the world. We got to check out a few bars in St Germain and ate really great food at Le Refectoire, but the main reason for going was music.
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to see Laurent Garnier play at the Rex Club in Paris, (one of) the club he calls home. It is a tiny, shitty place with a consistently huge and disorganized queue and savage bar prices, but it has a great atmosphere and the party goes all night long.
I first got into Laurent Garnier with his Mixmag Live CD 15 years ago (still the best production DJ set of all time) and have tried to see him play live whenever possible since. I must have seen him 15 times, including sets in Ibiza, New York and Hungary, and I am not sure I have ever seen him miss a beat. His mixing is impeccable and his tune selection is second-to-none.
For a great introduction to european house and techno get a hold of the CD from somewhere and check out the way he blends Parisien jazz into Detroit bass. A true master at work, on the CD and in the Rex Club last Saturday.
