The conversation in the elevator up to the fifth floor of LUXY went: "Bonsoir."
"Bonsoir."
"C'est un party en Francais," as if to explain the number of foreigners crowding into the club for a French Institute in Taiwan- and FNAC-sponsored night out on Taipei town.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
It was a French party alright, with Frederic Galliano and his two African divas followed by Laurent Garnier. But then all parties look pretty much the same at four in the morning after a few drinks.
But they rarely sound so good. After three hours in his DJ bunker on the stage, pushing out an eclectic and funked up set, Garnier started throwing down heavy late-80s Detroit techno, along with DC Go Go, a little thrash and then one of the strangest mixes: a wailing child/woman over a stripped down house beat whisked in with Lil' Louis' French Kiss. Eerie.
It was quite a performance since Garnier had to leave early yesterday morning to play the same night in Shanghai, on his five-day, four-stop tour of Asia.
Tales of Garnier's staying power are legendary. On previous tours of Asia and eleswhere, the smoothy has been caught out honing his reputation for being a lady's man (a cross the French sometimes have to bear). Two separate accounts of his exploits from those who were there when he last played in Seoul and Taipei claimed he partied on with several women after his shows.
In an interview with a colleague before playing, however, Garnier, 37, said he was a changed man and would be settling down and having children soon. As the French say, "Plus ca change" (nothing changes), the same old verites.
Earlier in the evening, to a full house, Frederic Galliano and The African Divas pretty much glammed the place up with a fine vocal and DJ performance that hit all the right notes and warmed up the venue.
Elsewhere, club-goers accustomed to listening to SL on the decks at various clubs around town may be surprised to learn that they missed him displaying his chops at Novell Hall last weekend in a play called Scarlet Sarabande (
SL's role involved him spinning on stage to accompany Shannon Chieh (
Tonight, it's back to basics with TeXound's "every third Friday of the month gay party." In the main room, stalwarts Jimmy Chen, Victor Cheng and Tiger wrestle the decks, while in the X-Bar, Teddy Dong, Eric Huang and Taco will be doing the damage.
From 11pm to 9am, admission NT$300 before 1am or in advance, and NT$500 thereafter. TeXound Dance Club is at B1, 217 Nanjing E Rd, Sec 3, Taipei (
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