· 2 min read · portrait · collectif · lyon · hard-techno
23:59 : the Lyon hard techno collective from Tapage Nocturne
Born January 2020 from a walkout at Tapage Nocturne, 23:59 brings together Florent Aguerra, Morgane Hugé, Valentin Demay and residents (Beauz, Sköne, Protokseed, Creeds). Wide spectrum : techno, hard, industrial, hardcore, hard trance, from Le Petit Salon to the 23:59 Weekender (8,000 attendees, October 2024).
Contents
🎚️ The Tapage Nocturne breakaway
23:59 was not born from an isolated urge to start a collective. It was born from a collective walkout : in 2019, the whole team of the Lyon association Tapage Nocturne left together, with their values and their resident DJs, to set up a new structure. Three people at the core : Florent Aguerra (former artistic director at Tapage), Morgane Hugé (communications and production), Valentin Demay (graphic design). First edition : 11 January 2020 at Le Petit Salon. The name is set down as a manifesto : "23:59, that's the minute before everything goes to shit." A statement of intent on excess and the line, not just a time.
🔊 The wide-spectrum techno manifesto
23:59 claims "the biggest currents of contemporary techno : techno, hard techno, industrial, hardcore, hard trance, techno2000." A spectrum deliberately broader than the average French hard techno crew. What sets them apart from Encore, the other Lyon hard techno collective : 23:59 owns the most extreme aesthetics (industrial, hardcore, schranz), where Encore stays on a more accessible, big-room hard techno. The roster of residents and recurring artists matches that line : Beauz, D-Fence, H! Dude, Sköne, Protokseed, Creeds, Toxic Machinery, Onlynumbers, Luciid.
🏛️ From Le Petit Salon to the 23:59 Weekender
Le Petit Salon remains the home base : techno, schranz and hard techno in the main room, pure techno in the small one. Alongside, a monthly residency at Interference and regular Paris stops at Kilomètre25 through Shotgun's La Carte pass. The recent peak is the 23:59 Weekender at TBA Villeurbanne in October 2024 : two consecutive nights, two stages, seventeen artists (Cera Khin, Airod, 6EJOU, Funk Tribu, Doruksen among them), 8,000 festival-goers. Their signature XXL format, proving an underground collective can hold the big stage without compromising its line. Before that, La Rayonne in December 2024 for a 23:59 x AnD all night long collab, in pure peak-time tradition.
📍 23:59 in 2026
The 2026 schedule is dense and opens on alliances that matter for the scene. On 30 May, 23:59 x Organïk at Le Transbordeur : first cross-collab between Lyon and Paris (cf. Organïk), hard techno and hard trance. Then the Interference residency on 20 June (Beauz, Junkie Kid, Ardente, Fiorælla), Kilomètre25 on 26 June (Beauz, So Juice, Schlass, 2vine, Luxx), an open-air at the Grand Parc Miribel Jonage on 13 July, and the autumn flagship : Encore x 23:59 on 24 October at the Halle Tony Garnier, with Vieze Asbak, Natte Visstick and Slvl. The Encore alliance is worth flagging : Lyon's two most active hard techno collectives don't compete, they co-produce on the larger venues (23:59 brings the underground credibility, Encore brings the big-room capacity). To follow the upcoming dates, the collective's agenda on calrave and its Instagram.