In 1986, Jacques Renault, founder of the legendary “Bains Douches” nightclub and Assaad Debs, who ran the concert division of the legendary Parisian venue “Le Palace”, teamed up to create “Bains Douches Productions”, which became Corida in 1991. Corida forged a place for itself as one of the most famous producers of live performance shows in France, for major artists and groups such as Dire Straits, Rammstein and Radiohead, putting on unforgettable concerts such as the Serge Gainsbourg concert at Le Zénith in Paris, the Kraftwerk retrospective for the opening of the Louis Vuitton Foundation, and Daft Punk’s last concert at Bercy.
Corida has provided a home for artists and been an integral part of the French music landscape since it launched with tours by Les Rita Mitsousko and Catherine Ringer, building its reputation over time with concerts by Gérard Depardieu, Louise Attaque and, more recently, Juliette Armanet and Gaetan Roussel. Today, it looks after a new generation of artists such as Crystal Murray and the unmissable PNL.
Corida has also supported world-famous French artists such as Manu Chao and continues to manage tours for Air, Phoenix, Justice and Christine and the Queens.
Over the years, the company has partnered with new concert promoters including Talent Boutique, PiPole and, more recently, SUPER!
Corida also manages the Parisian concert venues of La Boule Noire and La Cigale, which stand out among THE places to play and be discovered in France.
Corida has been supporting the new-generation festival “We Love Green” since its inception, which attracts an ever-increasing audience to the Bois de Vincennes, just outside Paris.
Corida’s CEO, Olivier Darbois, has been President of PRODISS (French live music industry association) since 2018.
About Assaad Debs
In the Swinging Sixties, rock music fan Assaad Debs would often find himself in the concert venues of Paris, where he was lucky enough to enjoy shows from the biggest names in the business (The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Cream, Spencer Davis Group, The Animals, etc.).
He was just 17 years old when, in 1969, he organised his first concert for Soft Machine at the Bataclan.
But it was in Lebanon, his homeland, that it all started to fall into place. While on holiday there in 1973, he came across the German group “Agitation Free”. It was a bolt from the blue. Assaad, who was a law student at Panthéon-Assas University in Paris, had finally found his calling, becoming their French agent and tour manager.
He went on to act as the French producer for most German krautrock bands, including Tangerine Dream, Can, Klaus Shulze, Ash Ra Temple, Ammonduul 2 and Faust.
Around that time, and quite by chance, he crossed paths with Nico, Andy Warhol’s muse and singer with The Velvet Underground, for whom he went on to organise a number of concerts, including the legendary gig of 13 December 1974 at Reims Cathedral (with Tangerine Dream).
In 1975-76, he teamed up with Pascal Bernardin in “Wha Wha”, and founded “Rosebud” with Frédéric Serfati. They organised tours for The Clash, The Police, Dire Straits, Tina Turner, The Talking Heads, J Geils Band, Thin Lizzy, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and most of the New Wave bands of the 1980s.
And it was in collaboration with Frédéric Serfati that he brought Serge Gainsbourg to the stage for the first time in his career, in December 1979 at Le Palace.
This concert marked the start of a new musical journey for him at Le Palace, where – having been appointed Concert Director – he brought in artists such as Prince, U2, The Cars, Tom Waits, Tina Turner, The Tubes, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Grace Jones, Depeche Mode, Indochine, Urban Sax, TomTom Club, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Madness, The Specials and many more besides.
When his time at Le Palace came to an end in 1986, he teamed up with Jacques Renault, the former owner of the Bains Douches, and together they created CORIDA, where he brought in artists such as Dire Straits, Eric Clapton and Chris Rea, and was then put in charge of artistic development for Texas, Ben Harper, Rammstein, Manu Chao, Sheryl Crow, Les Rita Mitsouko and, more recently, Daft Punk, Justice, Charlie Winston and Selah Sue.