Aldo Gigli · Medeoprichter van de Mirano Continental · decorateur en grafisch ontwerper

Where It All Began

It all began long before Aldo Gigli, on boulevard du Souverain in Auderghem. The room was first a dance hall with its terrace, became the Lex cinema from 1937 to 1939, then the Casino cinema until 1965, before turning back into a dance hall.

Meanwhile, in 1959, Jean-Paul Wittemans turned a cabaret at 7 Grand-Place into a club named after a Claude Chabrol film: Les Cousins. The place became a meeting point for artists such as Jacques Brel, Gilbert Bécaud and Sacha Distel, and to celebrate its first year he pressed a 45 rpm with the group La Jeune Équipe: 'Fuego' and above all 'Kili Watch', a song promoted on RTB radio by Jean-Claude Ménessier and then defended in France by Jean Kluger, who would later write the hits of La Compagnie Créole, the Gibson Brothers and Ottawan.

In 1966 the Grand-Place building was sold. Jean-Paul Wittemans then opened a new club in Auderghem, in the former Casino: Les Gémeaux. Michel Polnareff, Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger, Shocking Blue and Middle of the Road all passed through, in a Belle Époque décor designed by Claude Lombardo. That is where Aldo Gigli worked as a bartender in 1975: he discovered the nightlife world, met Marco Rolland and Paul Sterck, and learned on the job how to design invitations, décor and atmosphere.

In the late 1970s the same room changed its name and became Le Canotier. That is where Aldo Gigli truly started out as a graphic artist: he designed posters, membership cards and stage sets, such as the night-time city painted behind the musicians of Deaf School in 1977. The club also hosted Simple Minds' very first concert in Belgium, on 18 October 1979. The posters and printed documents from that period are gathered in the chapter “Communication: Posters and Visuals”.

It was still just a neighbourhood club, but it already contained everything that would make the Mirano: a taste for costume, an obsession with detail, the idea that a party should be prepared like a show.

Les Gémeaux

Logo of Les Gémeaux club, where Aldo Gigli worked as a bartender in 1975. This is where he discovered the nightlife world, met Marco Rolland and Paul Sterck, and learned to design invitations and sets.The logo is not by Aldo Gigli. Archive photograph of Les Gémeaux club, boulevard du Souverain in Auderghem.

Brian Auger at the keyboard on the stage of Les Gémeaux in Auderghem, beneath the club's emblem painted on the wall. Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger were among the artists who played this room before it became Le Canotier and then Le Cactus.Archive photograph, private collection. Photo credit: DR.

Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger on the small stage of Les Gémeaux, seen from the balcony: Hammond organ, Marshall amp, Rogers drums and photographers at floor level, against the painted walls of Claude Lombardo's Belle Époque décor.Photo © Alain Vandenweghe. Private collection.

Jean-Paul Wittemans, founder of Les Gémeaux, with Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger at the club bar. A nightlife owner who welcomed his artists himself, a few steps from the dance floor.Photo © Alain Vandenweghe. Private collection.

Jean-Paul Wittemans at the microphone introduces the singer of Middle of the Road on the stage of Les Gémeaux. A neighbourhood venue that welcomed the international stars of the day.Archive photograph, private collection. Photo credit: DR.

Michel Polnareff on the stage of Les Gémeaux on 19 September 1969, arms outstretched, acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder, in front of his Rogers-branded drum kit. One of the memorable concerts at the Auderghem club in the late 1960s.Archive photograph, private collection. Photo credit: DR.

Mariska Veres, the singer of Shocking Blue, who came to the stage of Les Gémeaux. Their hit “Venus” was then a foolproof way of bringing the dancers back onto the floor.Archive photograph, private collection. Photo credit: DR.

Sheila behind the bar at Les Gémeaux, under the wrought-iron wall lights and fringed pelmets of the Belle Époque décor designed by Claude Lombardo.Photo © Alain Vandenweghe. Private collection.

The crowd at Les Gémeaux on a party night: feathers, striped dresses and backcombed hair on a dance floor strewn with straw. The idea that a party is staged like a show is already there.Archive photograph, private collection. Photo credit: DR.

A view of the room at Les Gémeaux: globe lights, fringed drapes and customers leaning around the dance floor. The club's Belle Époque décor, boulevard du Souverain in Auderghem.Archive photograph, private collection. Photo credit: DR.

Le Canotier

Black-and-white photograph, horizontal format. Nanard, a fixture of the Canotier nights, photographed at the club in 1977, a cross on her ear, in the half-light of the room. — Nanard at Le Canotier, 1977

Sepia photograph, horizontal format. Nanard, Patrick "Pips" Avella and Dany the Indian pose together at Le Canotier, in the dim light of a dressing room or club corridor. An "Extincteur" (fire extinguisher) sign is visible on the wall behind them. 1970s. — Nanard with Patrick "Pips" Avella and Dany the Indian

Jim Kerr, eyes lowered, right up against the audience: on 18 October 1979, Simple Minds played their first concert in Belgium, on the small stage of Le Canotier, a few months after the release of the album “Life in a Day”. — Simple Minds, first concert in Belgium, Le Canotier, 18 October 1979

Derek Forbes on bass and Jim Kerr on vocals, under the spotlights and hanging mirrors of Le Canotier's décor.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

Jim Kerr at the microphone, lit by the row of spotlights. Simple Minds, Le Canotier, 18 October 1979.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

Derek Forbes between two spotlights. The concert played out at eye level, on the low stage of the Auderghem club.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

Charlie Burchill on guitar. Simple Minds, first concert in Belgium, Le Canotier, 18 October 1979.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

Derek Forbes and Jim Kerr side by side under the spotlights. Le Canotier's room, formerly Les Gémeaux, was already hosting the bands that would matter in the following decade.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

Charlie Burchill on guitar, with Brian McGee's drums in the background. Simple Minds, Le Canotier, 18 October 1979.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

Derek Forbes at the microphone in front of the lighting rig and the hanging mirrored discs of Le Canotier.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

Jim Kerr and Derek Forbes mid-song. A year and a half later, Le Canotier closed and Aldo Gigli found the old cinema on the Chaussée de Louvain: the Mirano Continental.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

Derek Forbes and Jim Kerr under the stage's twin spotlights. Final image of the series: Simple Minds at Le Canotier, 18 October 1979.Photo © Philippe Carly. AI-assisted digital retouching, disclosed as such.

The atmosphere of the era in music: Shocking Blue, whose singer Mariska Veres came to the stage of Les Gémeaux, and their worldwide hit “Venus”, which unfailingly filled the dance floor. — Shocking Blue, “Venus”, 1969

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