Eleven performers from Tokyo are on a tour of Europe. I have to wait a while outside the club, before I get to make contact with my friend who invited me. He explains he has to drive the troop of performers on to Amsterdam, the next day. The small straggle of people wait out in the cold. There is one man, who has spent no doubt much time in preparation. What do these people do, in their day to day to day lives I wonder.

During the weekend they no doubt take delight in transforming themselves, wearing the most outlandish costume they can. One has red horn shaped lights flashing, extended leggings. I get in an I am given the information. There is a man who is wearing a robotic costume. The evening pans out in a most interesting way. I feel I am entering the unknown. I am told by my friend, “discretion is the key”.

There is a young photographer, snapping away, in the cave of the club called “The club”. People dressed up in the costumes, begin to mill around. I am introduced to various people, including a man , who is the organiser, who looks like an oversized Alice in Wonderland. There are two areas, and an area, off-limits to most of the punters, where these amazing photographs are being taken, as the Japanese over from Tokyo are asked to make various poses. They have big wigs and must have spent hours on their make up. I suppose I felt like I was in a strange dream, with odd balls and eccentrics freely expressing themselves.

The crowd, at first rather thin, maybe some are still preparing themselves, are mainly dancing or chatting in the upstairs area, to gothic and eighties music. I feel slightly like I am being transported back in time. I remember the new romantic movement and times back in the eighties, when it was the norm to dress up for the weekly art college disco, I would regularly attend and sometimes Dj. Sometimes in Paris, I do feel back in a time warp, people delighting in things I used to enjoy many years ago.

The Japanese performers get on the small dance stage and take it in turns to move about and gyrate, pulling faces. They seem totally uninhibited and rather than shy away from being photographed, they are totally game for posing. There is one period in the evening on the dance stage, where a a quasi sex act is performed, but the night isn’t sleazy, most people are there to have fun and the ambience is pleasant. Maybe as the night panned out, things changed.

The last thing I was to witness was the “Tokyo shock boys” who provided a slightly lewd humorous show, which brought laughter and applause. I was well satisfied with the film I managed to capture. It was an unusual night at times a bemusing night and visually an inspirational night. Yes eccentricity and show people still survives in Paris.

Francis H. Powell is originally from England and moved to Paris in 1999. In addition to being a writer (articles, songs and poems), he is a painter, DJ and English trainer. For more information, please click here to read his complete bio.

Be first to comment on this article

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.