Les Foufounes Électriques
Encyclopedia
Les Foufounes Électriques is a concert venue located at 87 Saint Catherine Street
East in the city of Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
in a neighbourhood known as the Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter). It is a multi-level establishment with 3 dance floors. The club first opened its doors in 1983 and became a centre for underground music
, art
and culture
in Montreal.
Known as "Foufs" by the locals, the club is the oldest alternative rock
venue in the city.
and Bernard Paquet, 3 friends from the same musical theatre
group, decided to open a bar which would also serve as a place to showcase burgeoning alternative musicians and different types of art. Some of the more notable early art performances included applying paint to human canvasses as well as the walls of the club itself - these sessions were known as "peinture en direct" (live painting). A spider
-like sculpture stands over the entrance to the club whose inner decor includes graffiti
covered walls and other strange sculptures. According to Gourd, the bar did not turn much of a profit and he sold his share in the club after 5 years. By the end of the 80s, Boileau was the only remaining owner.
The name "Les Foufounes Électriques" literally translates to "the electric buttocks". According to a 2008 article which appeared in The Guardian
the name originated from "its founders' habits of exhibiting their painted derrieres in old TV sets." According to a quote on the nightclub's official website, Boileau explains: "Ass, girls and boys have one, so it’s not really sexual, and Electric sounds dancy, so that’s how the name came about".
During the 80s the club became a centre for the punk
and gothic
subcultures of Montreal, however the club has also been home to many varieties of underground and alternative styles of music, including new wave
, reggae
, ska
, industrial
, grunge
, and hip-hop. The club tends to attract a younger punk/alternative rock crowd in addition to and including students from one of Montreal's many colleges and universities.
Some of the more well known international artists who have performed at the venue include Nirvana
, Mano Negra
, The Dickies
, William S. Burroughs
and Marianne Faithfull
. In addition to live musical performances and various DJ
shows, the venue has also hosted a variety of non-musical events, including barbecue
s, art shows
and sideshow
s.
Saint Catherine Street
This article is about the street in Montreal called the rue Sainte-Catherine in French. For other streets of this name, see Rue Sainte-Catherine ....
East in the city of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in a neighbourhood known as the Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter). It is a multi-level establishment with 3 dance floors. The club first opened its doors in 1983 and became a centre for underground music
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
, art
Underground art
Underground art, as with underground music and underground film, is a term that seeks to describe art forms that are aloof to the mainstream art world, are illegal, taboo, unconventional, rebellious or revolutionary...
and culture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
in Montreal.
Known as "Foufs" by the locals, the club is the oldest alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
venue in the city.
History
In 1983, Norman Boileau, François GourdFrançois Gourd
François Gourd is a Canadian political figure and entertainer, who has been involved in the Rhinoceros Party of Canada and the entartistes, two satirical political movements...
and Bernard Paquet, 3 friends from the same musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
group, decided to open a bar which would also serve as a place to showcase burgeoning alternative musicians and different types of art. Some of the more notable early art performances included applying paint to human canvasses as well as the walls of the club itself - these sessions were known as "peinture en direct" (live painting). A spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
-like sculpture stands over the entrance to the club whose inner decor includes graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
covered walls and other strange sculptures. According to Gourd, the bar did not turn much of a profit and he sold his share in the club after 5 years. By the end of the 80s, Boileau was the only remaining owner.
The name "Les Foufounes Électriques" literally translates to "the electric buttocks". According to a 2008 article which appeared in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
the name originated from "its founders' habits of exhibiting their painted derrieres in old TV sets." According to a quote on the nightclub's official website, Boileau explains: "Ass, girls and boys have one, so it’s not really sexual, and Electric sounds dancy, so that’s how the name came about".
During the 80s the club became a centre for the punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
and gothic
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
subcultures of Montreal, however the club has also been home to many varieties of underground and alternative styles of music, including new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
, and hip-hop. The club tends to attract a younger punk/alternative rock crowd in addition to and including students from one of Montreal's many colleges and universities.
Some of the more well known international artists who have performed at the venue include Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, Mano Negra
Mano Negra
Mano Negra was a music band in France, during 1987–1995, fronted by Manu Chao.The band, founded in 1987 by Chao, his brother Antoine, and his cousin Santiago Casariego in Paris, France, was very influential in Europe during the early 1990s. Although it reached mainstream success in countries...
, The Dickies
The Dickies
The Dickies are an American punk rock group formed in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, U.S. in 1977.-History:The Dickies were among the first punk rock bands to emerge from Los Angeles...
, William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
and Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
. In addition to live musical performances and various DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
shows, the venue has also hosted a variety of non-musical events, including barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
s, art shows
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
and sideshow
Sideshow
In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...
s.
External links
- A video clip about the club which originally appeared on the Radio Canada French-language tv series "L'Enfer, c'est nous autres" on June 14, 1993. Last retrieved Jun 17, 2010.