La Java

Bastille / Oberkampf - 11eme, Paris –

Despite the bleak walkway leading to its entrance, La Java is one of the most colorful nightclubs in Paris, known for hosting everything from improvised cabaret evenings to minimal techno DJs.

The young and the bored from all over the city traipse down its bright blue stairwells and into its one underground room, whose poster-paint color scheme, amateurish Parisian murals, and dizzying variety of bands, DJs, and performers give the place a sense of carnival abandon, reflected in the often indecorous behavior of its late-night clientele.

Club nights are particularly popular as streams of college students, youthful insomniacs, and cheery teams of hooligans in hoodies, skinnies, and the occasional headband take to the concrete dance floor with inelegant but irresistible energy.

Most weeks, the venue also plays host to a good number of alternative performances, from fringe theater to slam poetry and back.

Although the space may sport a low ceiling, old-school disco lighting, and inadequate ventilation – it was built in 1924, after all, and is among the city’s oldest music venues – the frequent collisions with sweaty floor-shakers are a small price to pay for La Java’s unfettered charms.