Freak'n'Chic @ Le Zèbre

I've decided to frontload the flyer and my video clip, since the "pre-clubbing" part of my day was mostly writing and sleeping and making food. Also, I'm not organizing this post by DJ, since I didn't pay as much attention as I usually do to sets tonight. I dunno why, I just wasn't "taking notes" mentally the way I normally do. Anyway, Dan Ghenacia did the opening slot 19h00-21h00, Rob Mello took the headliner slot 21h00-23h00 and David K closed the evening from 23h00 to 1h30. Ghenacia's set was rather languid and warm house, which wasn't particularly exciting but did a good job of setting the mood (his set is on in the video above). Rob Mello's set was more punchy and uptempo house, seeming to drift between classic house and microhouse, but never really settling into a minimalist aesthetic. I only heard a little bit of David K's set, because he started at 23h00 and I was ready to head to bed by then; nonetheless, what I heard of it sounded like the makings of an emphatically microhouse live set.

The idea for the Freak'n'Chic nights is actually very practical. On a Sunday night, billed as a "before/after" party, Le Zèbre opens as a club at 19h00 (instead of midnight) and closes at 1h30 (instead of 6h00). Otherwise, the club runs as usual. The result is that you can go out, dance till midnight, catch the last train back home, and be up in time for work or classes the next day. All in all, it made for a less intense but also less taxing experience. There were still people partying hard, drunk or high, possibly still awake from the previous night--but the overall feeling was more like a dancey lounge than a full-on nightclub.

Shortly after getting there and checking my coat (again, people cutting in line), I took a few shots from the balcony (the club is also a theatre) and then headed to the bar to get a drink. After finishing my first vodka-strawberry concoction, I headed back to the bar and got a drink from the same server. While I was ordering, she leaned in and asked "Eres español?" ("Are you Spanish?") Since it was loud and there were a throng of people waiting for their drinks, I gave her the short version: No, I'm Canadian, but my parents are South American. "Oh," she said, "you have a Spanish face." Although my ethnic background is only partially traceable to Spain (there's also French, German, Sephardic Jew, and an undocumented understanding that my dad's Columbian family included some Afro-Hispanic mixing), I presumed from her accent that she herself was Spanish and took it as a compliment. We chatted as she fixed my drink, and it turns out that she's from Malaga.

Anyway, I hit the road shortly after David K. started his set, easily catching a train back to my place. Alas, since I was coming home at 23h30 rather than 6h00, my bakery wasn't open and I couldn't buy my morning baguette. Ah well. Win some, lose some.