The Rex Night Club Details...

The Rex Club, 5 bd Poissonnière,
75002 Paris, France

For the majority of Parisian night owls the Rex Club truly came to life in 1992.

Thursday the 21st May 1992 to be precise, with the opening of the first "Wake Up" night organised by Laurent Garnier. His aim was to shake up and wake up Paris' nightlife. The rave scene had by then already begun to tire. By offering sweets, candy floss and above all the cream of international DJ's (Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Jeff Mills, Sven Vath, Lil'louis), who for the most part had never played in France before, Garnier and the Rex team succeeded in establishing a magic within the club that will forever be remembered as one of the crucial chapters in Paris' electronic music history.

For more than 15 years, the Rex has been the first club in France to devote its program solely to electronic music. From the pioneers of acid house (Mike Pickering, Andrew Weatherall) to the latest generation of groove explorers (Miss Kittin, Black Strobe), Techno pioneers (Underground Resistance, Dave Clarke etc...), Breakbeat, new urban styles, like electro hip hop, nu soul...

Laurent Garnier and the REX team have succeeded in establishing a temple of electronic music where the cream of international DJ's (Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Jeff Mills, Sven Vath, Lil'louis) has played.

DJ Mag Club Review...

Celebrating 20 years last year, The Rex opened its doors in 1988 but Thursday 21st May 1992 was its real starting point. That was the night when a young Laurent Garnier promoted his first Wake Up! party with the sole intention of reinvigorating the then stale Parisian rave scene with guests like Derrick May, Carl Craig and Jeff Mills.

Like Garnier, the Rex will remain a French music legend forever more and has never once sold even a shred of its soul to the Franc - it remains dedicated to underground electronic music seven days a week.

Ivan Smagghe, Stefan Bodzin, Radio Slave, Josh Wink and Dave Clarke have been recent guests as well as electro legend Afrika Bambaata.

But despite its stellar guests and towering name, the eternal charm of The Rex lies in the claustrophobic intimacy of its low-sunk ceilings. At first a surprise - given the club's resonating name - its no-nonsense rave basement pulls you in like an old clubbing comrade and reminds you why you fell in with clubbing in the first place.

"The first time I played I was like, 'Why the hell am I playing in a tiny little capsule?'" jokes Systematic's Marc Romboy. "They took the word DJ booth too literally. But the sound of this club is stunning. It has an intense pressure and kicks through the whole room. In the last 20 years the venue has lost nothing."

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