Of their old Rex, only the immense chandelier with tassels remains, kept for “its warm side”. “We broke everything, everything soundproofed, everything redone, including the roof,” announces Francis Ginibre. “And on the sides, the partitions are suspended to avoid vibrations. Everything was carried out according to the rules of the art, ”adds Eric Carrière.

The Chevaliers du Fiel do not shy away from their pleasure when they set foot on the floor of their brand new performance hall, red (for the walls) and black (for the ceiling). Larger, since the hallway and the toilets on the right have disappeared and better equipped with lights and sounds, the new Rex wants to be at the forefront. So far, all the groups that have followed one another since September 16 “have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound”, notes Francis Ginibre.

During concerts, the audience stands in the hall. “On 500 places”, resume the Knights of Fiel, against 400 in the previous version.

700,000 euros of work

At the entrance, a charming ticket office is now installed on the right. Behind the first door, we follow a large SAS where the changing rooms are located, which prevents noise from escaping. We cannot recommend enough a small detour to the toilets, where an oval brick well, surmounted by a glass plate, creates a surprise. “It was the mechanical shovels, by lifting the slabs, which brought it up to date”, tell the Knights of Fiel.

After 22 months of closure, and work that began in June 2020 and ended in January 2021, the Rex has had a makeover. For this, he had to pay the tidy sum of 700,000 €, of which 300,000 € came from the regional council. To obtain this help, the Knights of Fiel insisted on the fact that this “cultural place is located in the city center. Young people can come and have fun without taking the cars and the risk of getting fucked up ”.

Currently on tour with their show “Travaux d’enfer”, the Knights of the domain do not intend to perform there, “except on exceptional occasions. We opened this room to program other artists. Us, it’s humor, but we love music. We are also former musicians. Our goal was really to create a music scene, ”they explain.
eclectic programming

And on the programming side, the poster is eclectic. “We have both hip-hop, rock, techno, drum and bass, metal, blues groups… In the second part of the evening, electro with DJs takes over until 5 am”, specifies Mathieu Doumerc, the director of programming. Admission varies from € 12 to € 25 to remain accessible to young people.

The Chevaliers du Fiel bought the Rex five years earlier. “Originally, it was a cinema with two rooms. We have been there more than once. Today, we have transformed into a place of music in the heart of the city to perpetuate this Toulouse party tradition. It took fools like us to do it because it is not a gift either ”, conclude the two comedians.