Paris club, Essaim, to open from Concrete’s artistic director
A new club, Essaim, is set to open in Paris on 31st October. The venue will be dedicated to “cutting-edge musical tastes and a purist, open-minded audience”.
Taking over the former sites of Club Carbone and Bisou Club, between Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est, the space will have a capacity of 400 per event. According to a press release, LED screens and big stages will be swerved in favour of DJ booths at dance floor level and subtler, ambient lighting.
Sound is being delivered by L’Acoustics, and enhanced through sound traps and surface work to remove “dead zones”. The venue is run by a new partnership between Brice Coudert, founder and artist director of the sorely missed Paris techno institution Concrete, Jonathan Malaisé, who was the club’s technical and production director, and David Bossan and Tommy Gin.
Antoine Hernandez — co-programmer of Saint-Étienne’s Positive Education festival, is also involved. Alongside Coudert — who currently programmes the Weather festivals, Mutant., Antiverse and Underscope — the pair will take responsibility for curating lineups at the new address.
Essaim is also committed to improving crowd experience and inclusion. According to a press release, the club will respond to “the lack of attention to visitor well-being and comfort in French clubs” by “offering a friendly and welcoming reception to every person who walks through the door… a bar with much more accessible prices… and a controlled capacity that ensures no one feels cramped.”
Running from 2012 to 2019, Concrete occupied a barge floating on the River Seine and was considered among the most influential clubs in Europe for a time, praised by artists such as Laurent Garnier for writing “a great chapter in the history of Parisian nightlife”. Alongside guests, the three-floor venue became well known for the quality of its residents, including Leo Pol, Shlømo, Cabanne, and François X. It closed following a dispute with the company that owns the boat, despite widespread support, including from then-Deputy Mayor, Frédéric Hocquard.
