New Moon was a Parisian nightclub, located at 66 Rue Pigalle (now Rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle) in the Place Pigalle, that started in the late 19th-century as a headquarters for Impressionist artists. In the 20th century, it became a jazz club and then a lesbian cabaret, before converting to a well-known alternative rock club in the 1980s. It closed in 1995. [1] [2]
In the 1860s, the building where the New Moon was later located was a cafe frequented by French Impressionist painters called La Nouvelle Athènes. In the early 20th century, the cafe added a cabaret to become first Monico, then the New Monico.
Between World War I and World War II, it became Ada "Bricktop" Smith's Chez Bricktop, [3] [4] famous for its jazz and frequented by luminaries like Pablo Picasso, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway. [3] Performers included Marlene Dietrich, Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. In the 1950s, the club became a striptease cabaret called The Sphinx, then the Narcisse.
By the 1960s, it had become the New Moon, and was a lesbian cabaret through the 1960s and 1970s. It closed in the early 1980s, and reopened again in 1987 as an alternative and punk rock club. [5]
From 1987 to 1995 the club was known as one of the most important venues in Paris for punk and alternative rock. [6] [7] [8] Noir Désir, the French Lovers, Mano Negra, the Naked Apes of Reason were a few of the many groups who performed. French photographer Raphaël Rinaldi published the book Paris New Moon, Paris (2016) focused on photography of the venue in the 1980s and 1990s. [7]
After briefly operating as a nightclub called Le Temple, the building was torn down to create office buildings in 2004. [2] [9]
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, does not typically dance but usually sits at tables. Performances are usually introduced by a master of ceremonies or MC. The entertainment, as performed by an ensemble of actors and according to its European origins, is often oriented towards adult audiences and of a clearly underground nature. In the United States, striptease, burlesque, drag shows, or a solo vocalist with a pianist, as well as the venues which offer this entertainment, are often advertised as cabarets.
Montmartre is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is 130 m (430 ft) high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its artistic history, for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur on its summit, and as a nightclub district.
Pigalle is an area in Paris, France, around the Place Pigalle, on the border between the 9th and the 18th arrondissements. It is named after the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714–1785).
The Place Pigalle is a public square located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, between the Boulevard de Clichy and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, near Sacré-Cœur, at the foot of the Montmartre hill.
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communities.
Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith, better known as Bricktop, was an American dancer, jazz singer, vaudevillian, and self-described saloon-keeper who owned the famous nightclub "Chez Bricktop" in Paris from 1924 to 1961, as well as clubs in Mexico City and Rome.
The Nouvelle Athènes, or Café de la Nouvelle-Athènes, was a café located at 66 Rue Pigalle in the Place Pigalle in Paris, France. It was the setting for many Impressionist paintings, as a result of being the meeting place for painters, including Matisse, Van Gogh and Degas.
Anne Pigalle is a French singer and multimedia artist.
The Café de Paris was a London nightclub, located in the West End, beside Leicester Square on Coventry Street, Piccadilly. Opened in 1924, it became one of the leading theatre clubs in London. After being hit by a German bomb in 1941, when at least 34 people were killed and around 80 injured, it was closed until 1948.
A nightclub is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discothèque with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who mixes recorded music. Nightclubs tend to be smaller than live music venues like theatres and stadiums, with few or no seats for customers.
The Boulevard de Clichy is a famous street of Paris, which lends its name to the Place de Clichy, resulted from the fusion, in 1864, of the roads that paralleled the Wall of the Farmers-General, both inside and out. It extends from the Place de Clichy to the Rue des Martyrs, nearly a kilometre away. During its tenure, the street has been known as the Boulevard des Martyrs, then the Boulevard Pigalle, and, finally, the Boulevard de Clichy. It is equally well known as the Boulevard Clichy.
Paris, the capital of France, has an active LGBT community. In the 1990s, 46% of the country's gay men lived in the city. As of 2004, Paris had 140 LGBT bars, clubs, hotels, restaurants, shops, and other commercial businesses. Florence Tamagne, author of "Paris: 'Resting on its Laurels'?", wrote that there is a "Gaité parisienne"; she added that Paris "competes with Berlin for the title of LGBT capital of Europe, and ranks only second behind New York for the title of LGBT capital of the world." It has France's only gayborhoods that are officially organized.
A lesbian bar is a drinking establishment that caters exclusively or predominantly to lesbian women. While often conflated, the lesbian bar has a history distinct from that of the gay bar.
Frede was a French host and manager of cabarets in Paris and Biarritz. Openly lesbian, Frede was the first to allow women to dance together in a classic cabaret. She is known for her relationships with actresses Marlene Dietrich, Zina Rachevsky, Lana Marconi, and María Félix. She has been featured as a character in Patrick Modiano's books.
Le Monocle was a Parisian lesbian bar, opened in the 1920s by Lulu de Montparnasse. Located on Boulevard Edgar-Quinet, it closed during the occupation of France by Germany in World War II.
Chez Moune is a Parisian nightclub that originally opened as Le Fetiche in 1936 in the Place Pigalle. It has been described as the first lesbian club with dancing and cabaret in Europe. Since the late 1980s, it has been a nightclub for mixed clientele.
Le Hanneton was a popular Parisian lesbian bar of the 1890s and early 1900s at 75 Rue Pigalle in the Montmartre district. It was owned and run by Madame Armande Brazier, who was the subject of a well-known lithograph by Toulouse Lautrec, Au Hanneton.
Le Rat Mort was a popular cafe/restaurant and cabaret in Paris in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Located in the Place Pigalle in the Montmartre District, it was frequented by artists, writers, actors, artist models, and prostitutes, and was a gathering place for lesbians in the evenings. Paintings and sketches inspired by the cafe and its customers included work by Toulouse Lautrec, Maxime Dethomas, Auguste Chabaud and Vlaminck Maurice.