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    Aldo Gigli

    Aldo Gigli · Mitbegründer des Mirano Continental · Bühnenbildner und Grafiker

    Concerts at the Mirano

    Before it was a dance floor, the Mirano was a stage. The club on Chaussée de Louvain hosted live bands, record launches and shows staged for a single night, inside sets designed by Aldo Gigli.

    On Sunday 12 December 1982 at 8:30 pm, Depeche Mode took the stage there. The band, then at the very start of its career, lined up its Roland synthesizers and its Fairlight in the Saint-Josse room. The surviving bilingual poster, stencil portraits and 320-Belgian-franc ticket tell the story of that night. The black-and-white photographs are by Philippe Carly. One concertgoer, Gérald Joseph Lambert, still remembers: “My first DM concert on 12/12/1982 at the Mirano in Brussels, the best of the early days. I still remember The Sun and the Rainfall as the last song before the two encores, a gem.”

    In 1986, the Mirano stage hosted the launch of “Bédé Musk”, the comic album by Jean-Louis Boccar and Patryck de Froidmont, and of their record “Looking for the Musk”, performed live by their band Les Indians. The set, a huge blue diamond-shaped panel topped by a giant woman's face drawn like a comic-book panel, turned the concert into a life-size frame.

    More concerts will join this album as documents come in.

    Photo album: concerts and stages at the Mirano, from Depeche Mode in 1982 to the “Musk” launch in 1986. Click the picture to browse the album.

    Dave Gahan am Mikrofon, im karierten Hemd, beim Depeche-Mode-Konzert im Mirano, Sonntag, 12. Dezember 1982. Foto © Philippe Carly.
    Unter den Scheinwerfern des Mirano: zwei Keyboarder der Band, der Roland-Synthesizer im Vordergrund, während des Konzerts am Sonntag, 12. Dezember 1982. Foto © Philippe Carly.
    Martin Gore und Andy Fletcher Seite an Seite hinter dem Fairlight und dem Roland, beim Depeche-Mode-Konzert im Mirano, Sonntag, 12. Dezember 1982. Foto © Philippe Carly.
    Dave Gahan im Strahl der Scheinwerfer, Mikrofon in der Hand, während des Depeche-Mode-Konzerts im Mirano, Sonntag, 12. Dezember 1982. Foto © Philippe Carly.
    Andy Fletcher, die Kappe fest auf dem Kopf, neben Dave Gahan zwischen zwei Songs, beim Depeche-Mode-Konzert im Mirano, Sonntag, 12. Dezember 1982. Foto © Philippe Carly.
    Wide view of the Mirano stage during the Depeche Mode concert, Sunday 12 December 1982: the band lined up behind their Roland and Korg keyboards, a light panel and coloured spotlights at the back, Showtec monitors along the stage edge and the crowd packed at the front.
    Konzertticket, 320 belgische Francs
    Originalticket für das Depeche-Mode-Konzert im Mirano Continental, Sonntag, 12. Dezember 1982, 20.30 Uhr, Tür Nr. 1, Preis: 320 belgische Francs. Serie 001001, unnummerierte Tickets, « Tickets ILP Liège ».
    Launch party for “Bédé Musk” and “Looking for the Musk”, 1986
    Colour photograph, horizontal format. At the Mirano Continental in 1986, two guests stand on a white-railed platform above a row of pink spotlights. Behind them, a huge blue diamond-shaped panel carries a giant woman's face drawn like a comic-book panel: the set for the launch party of the album “Bédé Musk” by Jean-Louis Boccar and Patryck de Froidmont, and their record “Looking for the Musk”.
    Les Indians on stage at the “Musk” launch, 1986
    Colour photograph, horizontal format. On the Mirano Continental stage in 1986, a singer in a painted white kimono holds the microphone stand, a performer in black sunglasses and pink tights stands beside him, and a third performer in a white jacket and marbled trousers dances in front of blue drapes and a lacquered statue. On stage, the band Les Indians perform “Looking for the Musk”, the soundtrack of the comic album by Jean-Louis Boccar and Patryck de Froidmont.
    The “Musk” Party Show, 1986
    Colour photograph, vertical format. On the Mirano Continental stage in 1986, a performer in yellow glasses, a white jacket printed with graffiti, a pink shirt and tie-dye leggings leaps with open arms, laughing. Around him, other performers in hand-painted outfits, pink tights and yellow boots cross the stage, in front of a set of blue drapes, silver mannequins and a table covered with bottles. Two halos, pink and green, mark the photograph.
    The Indians' Singer at the Microphone, 1986
    Colour photograph, vertical format, shot from below. On the Mirano Continental stage in 1986, the singer, in a white suit hand-painted with yellow and pastel motifs, soft yellow boots and a long black strand of hair, arches back in front of the microphone stand. Behind him, models in white dresses screen-printed with black drawings wait their turn, in front of the blue drapes of the set.
    Musk, Monumental Heroine of the Set, 1986
    Colour photograph, vertical format. Above the Mirano Continental dancefloor in 1986, a monumental portrait of Musk, the comic book heroine, towers over the room: a drawn face on a blue background, lacquered fringe, necklace and crossed neckline. On the left, a giant original page from the album hangs from the ceiling; on the right, a red neon ring. Below, television screens broadcast images in front of the crowd gathered under the white staircases.
    “Looking for the Musk”, Les Indians, 1986
    Record sleeve, square format. A woman's face drawn in comic-book style fills the image: midnight-blue fringe, blue eyeshadow, deep purple lips, on a grainy mauve background streaked with pink strokes. The title “Looking for the Musk” runs across the top, the Indians band logo sits bottom left.
    Synth Concert on the Mirano Stage
    Colour photograph, horizontal format. At the centre of the Mirano Continental stage, a musician in an embroidered jacket plays a Korg keyboard set on a pale concrete plinth. Behind him, a painted set imitates a reel-to-reel console; on the right, a dusk sky and a metal blind, on the left a saw-toothed orange backdrop. Two performers in black leather, red helmets and goggles stand guard on either side of the stage.
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