Le Bains Douches (roughly translated as The Bathing Houses) (aka Les Bains-Douches and Bains Douches) was a Parisian nightclub located at 7 rue du Bourg-l'Abbé in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris active from 1978 to 2010. Bains Douches was a mecca of decadent excess for Parisian nightclubbers during the 1980s; the trendiest meeting place in Paris for international artistic society.[1] After many adventures over the decades, the nightclub closed its doors in 2010.
History
editThe building originally houses the Guerbois thermal baths, created in 1885 by François Auguste Guerbois (1824–1891) and his son Albert Guerbois (1857–1926) who also operate the Guerbois café, a popular meeting place for artists and intellectuals at the time. It was immortalized by Édouard Manet. The plaque at the entrance of Les Bains Douches indicates: Bains Guerbois, swimming pool, Turkish and Russian baths, sulfurous steam showers. At the end of the 19th century, the place attracted many influential homosexual personalities, including Marcel Proust. Jean-Pierre Marois, historic owner of the place, founded the company Les Bains in 2011 as part of the renovation of the new project.
Opening as a club
editMaurice Marois bought the place as a cesspool at the end of the 1960s before transferring the lease many years later. The shabby-chic club Bains Douches was established in 1978[2] by Jacques Renault, an antique dealer and his partner Fabrice Coat. They transformed the baths into a modular nightclub with a lounge on the first floor.
Philippe Starck, then just starting out, re-decorated the place in white and black tiles. Later, David Rochline retouched the appearance of the entrance. The swimming pool in the basement had a giant chessboard at the bottom of the water, the pieces of which were moved by a frogman. Added to this was a concert hall, discotheque, restaurant and bar. It opened to much fanfare on December 21, 1978 with more than 2,000 people present. Pierre et Gilles designed the invitation card.
Post-Punk days
editFar from the ostentatiousness disco trend of the moment, Bains Douches became the meeting point for the world of no wave cultural intellectuals and artists. Disc jockey/singer Philippe Krootchey hosted a large number of evenings there featuring the music of Talking Heads and The B-52's. Depeche Mode gave its first concert in France at Bains Douches in September 1981. Other hosted live music performances were by the Dead Kennedys, Joy Division, Suicide, Les Rita Mitsouko, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo & the Bunnymen (among many others). Joy Division recorded their Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 LP there and the CD booklet contains a reprint of the original poster for the show. Also the No Wave band James Chance & the Contortions recorded their album Live Aux Bains Douches there in 1980.
Farida Khelfa was the club's physiognomist for two years before being replaced for a time by Caroline Loeb and Paquita Paquin. Transgender icon Jenny Bel'Air also worked the door for a while. Regular club goers included Roman Polanski, Johnny Depp, Naomi Campbell, Mick Jagger, Kate Moss, David Bowie and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.[3][4]
