- Spring was barely a week old when the guys from La Mamie's threw their first party of the season at La Ferme du Bonheur. Located in Nanterre, a commune on the outskirts of Paris famous for its university, La Ferme is, as its name suggests, a farm, complete with a vegetable garden, animals and a barn. This little eden lies somewhere between Nanterre's projects, the A86 highway and Hauts-de-Seine's detention center, and is technically illegal, though because of its strong social and cultural program the authorities have turned a blind eye for more than 20 years.
If I'm honest, when I first heard that a series of parties were taking place at a community farm on the Nanterre campus, I feared the worst. The party would be one of two things: either a soulless event full of Parisian bobos (bourgeois-bohème) or another gross, debauched student affair with no musical taste or direction. It turns out I was wrong on both counts.
Launched in 2007 by a group of high school friends, La Mamie's first events took place in a family-owned abandoned house in Montrouge. The parties were originally just for close friends, but word soon spread. To deal with the increase in numbers, the crew toured the city's bars and venues for a new home, avoiding the capital's overpriced club circuit. In 2011, they crossed paths with a resident at La Ferme du Bonheur, who invited them to play at his next Electro d'Bal. The party was such a success that the owner of La Ferme offered them the opportunity to curate their own summer daytime series. From there, the collective went from strength to strength, welcoming more than a thousand people to each of their sunday sessions, while clocking up bookings at the likes of Rex, Concrete and La Machine du Moulin Rouge. Last year, in partnership with Cracki Records, they launched their own festival, Macki Music.
To kick off their fourth season at La Ferme du Bonheur, La Mamie's invited back Roman Play from Le Camion Bazar, a well-known soundsystem truck often seen at festivals. Having recently collaborated in the chill-out area at Weather Winter, the two collectives share a musically diverse approach to the dance floor. After an opening hour of downtempo and dub cuts, Romain Play and the La Mamie's residents took control of the decks for a six-hour back-to-back, joined later by Rose et Rosée co-founder Francis. At around 7 PM, a storm hit the site, transforming the atmosphere immediately. Not long after, someone dropped Smith N Hack's "Space Warrior" and the crowd went crazy.
At some point during the party, it occurred to me that La Mamie's could be considered Paris' equivalent to New York's Mister Sunday series. Both have a strong music policy, decent prices, an amazing soundsystem, positive vibes and a dedication to playing vinyl. There's one crucial difference, though. Despite its name—La Mamie's translates from French as The Grandma's—the crowd remains pretty young and, let's face it, not very diverse. La Mamie's has achieved a lot up until this point, so I hope they can find a way to cast their net a bit wider in the future.
Photo credit: Arthuro Peduzzi/AOP