Mirano Continental · Bruxelles
Tokyo Party
December 24th, 31st 1994-95
The two Japanese nights at Mirano Continental, Christmas and New Year 1994-95. This series gathers photographs of the night, the making of the giant Goldorak of more than 10 metres high conceived by Carl De Moncharline and installed inside the club, and the objects of the time: the notepads by Momo's cloakroom (Monique Van der Weehe) and the Pepsi Cola-shaped business card.
The flyer
The flyer of the night, front and back. Art direction by Carl De Moncharline, design by La Shampouineuse, manga illustrations by Olivier Boscovitch. A copy is held in the collections of MAD, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, under inventory no. 2018.83.45.
View the flyer's catalogue recordThe night
Mirano Continental, 38 chaussée de Louvain, Brussels — 24 and 31 December 1994.
The early days of special effects in clubs
In the early 1990s, special effects in clubs were still in their infancy. Thanks to its experience with the English company Lemaitre Ltd, then the world reference in indoor pyrotechnics, the team led by Yves Croiset, who had learned his craft at the Théâtre royal de la Monnaie, already mastered the effects used in theatres and large-scale shows.
But one effect remained to be invented: transposing the festive tradition of confetti, dear to Belgian carnivals, into the world of the club. Confetti projection systems did not yet exist. Carl De Moncharline called upon Olivier Van Cleemput, with whom he worked regularly. Son of the master pyrotechnician George-Alain Van Cleemput, whose family firm, founded in 1886, staged the great New Year fireworks in Brussels, Olivier put his craft at the service of this research.
In his workshop, several trials were run to develop a system able to propel confetti above the crowd. The first tests with ordinary confetti, too heavy and too compact, led to the use of large, lighter petals, creating a spectacular airborne effect that caused a sensation at the Mirano.
Developed prior to this night, these mortars were first used in the nomadic productions of Carl De Moncharline, the Who's Who's Follies, in Brussels as in Paris, then in the nights for which he served as artistic director at the Mirano Continental. The principle was subsequently taken up, refined and industrialised: the imposing original mortars gave way to more compact, self-contained devices, the confetti cannons, now in common use in shows and events throughout the world.
The lighting
On either side of the Goldorak, Trilight units fitted with Svoboda fixtures framed the structure. Devised by the Czech scenographer Josef Svoboda (1920-2002), this projector combines nine 250 W halogen lamps wired in series at low voltage (24 V) and produces a narrow, very powerful beam. Placed side by side, these units form genuine walls of light, a luminous line that shaped the look of 1990s clubs.
The lighting design was by Yves Croiset, technical director of Mirano Continental, with Fréquence Son et Lumière, supplier and partner of the night. Founded by Didier Streel, the company first became known in Belgium for staging the Fréquence parties before establishing itself as a reference in sound, lighting and special effects for clubs and large-scale events. At the desk, the lighting operators Yves Claes and Bertrand Stevens fired the laser beams in answer to the « Rétrolaser » samples launched by the DJ.
Olivier Van Cleemput also built sparkling effects mounted on long poles, an aluminium and powder charge fired electrically above the audience.
Samples « Fulguropoing » & « Astérohaches »
Sample boxes then belonged to the fairground world alone. One keypad model, loaded with Goldorak's catchphrases (Fulguropoing, Cornofulgure, Planitron, Pulvonium, Astérohaches, Rétrolaser), was installed in the DJ booth.
Making of the Goldorak of more than 10 metres
The project began with a proposal from Carl De Moncharline: to install a giant Goldorak above the dancefloor. Four crafts answered one another to bring it to life — set building, sound, pyrotechnics and lighting. Given the ceiling height of Mirano Continental, construction was entrusted to the set designer Pierro Vandermeeren, assisted by his son Laurent Oswald. The figure stood more than ten metres high: the elements were carved in the workshop, then assembled on site at Mirano Continental.
Assembly at Mirano Continental
The carved elements left the workshop in separate pieces and were assembled on site, above the dancefloor. Scaffolding erected for the occasion allowed the figure to be hoisted and fixed in place; it was taken down before opening and was never part of the set.
The Polaroid
Invented by Edwin H. Land and launched in 1948, the Polaroid transformed photography by delivering an image within minutes, with no laboratory. A symbol of the 1970s to the 1990s, the instant camera shaped popular culture, parties and personal memories through its spontaneity: every shot is a unique piece.
Objects & memorabilia
The notepads placed beside Momo's cloakroom (Monique Van der Weehe) let the crowd leave each other messages: the mobile phone was not yet used the way it is today. Their copy was written by Philippe Thito, a Belgian copywriter whose career runs from HHD Ogilvy & Mather, Kadratura, LHHS, DDB and McCann Erickson to Y&R Brussels and Grey Brussels, and who is now creative director at Mostra. Alongside them, Carl De Moncharline's business card, cut in the shape of the Pepsi Cola logo: each night had its own new card, designed in the graphic spirit of that party, like a signature.
Momo (Monique Van der Weehe)
Cloakroom of the Mirano Continental. She left to join the stars in 2024.
Photographic credits
Frédéric Leemans
Photographer born in 1966, active in Belgian clubs for more than thirty-five years; his work was shown in the exhibition « Night Vision: 25 years of Belgian nightlife ».
Context
Credits
- Board members
- Marco Rolland, Paul Sterck
- Director
- Jean-Pierre Mels
- Artistic director
- Carl De Moncharline
- Technical director
- Yves Croiset
- Head set designer
- Aldo Gigli
- Flyer design
- La Shampouineuse
- Manga illustrations
- Olivier Boscovitch
- Goldorak set
- Pierro Vandermeeren
- Set assistant
- Laurent Oswald
- Notepad texts
- Philippe Thito
- Lighting and laser
- Yves Claes, Bertrand Stevens
- Sound and lighting
- Fréquence
- Pyrotechnician
- Eelco de Jong
- Pyrotechnics and confetti mortars
- Olivier Van Cleemput
- DJs
- Olivier Gosseries, Jos, Olivier Tjon, Petit Pascal, Philippe Petit
- Illusionist
- Ashras (production No Limits)
- Cloakroom
- Monique Van der Weehe, dite Momo