You couldn't walk very far inside André Saraiva's newly-opened Le Baron before hearing snippets of French.  The New York outpost of Saraiva's popular Parisian club seemed to be a haven for French transplants (or at the very least, Francophones and Francophiles).  That said, whether from New York by way of Paris or New York by way of Jersey, everyone came out not only to scope out the new "it spot" but also to hear HEARTSREVOLUTION. 

From the get-go, the electro duo commanded the small space with their spirited performance.  Singer Lo worked the crowd like a pro, riling the group squeezed up against the stage into a frenzy with her punky, "take no prisoners" 'tude, left over from her riot grrrl days.  Towards the end of the set, Harlem rapper Esso joined them onstage and added a little bit of hip-hop into the mix.

Though most people there jostled for better sight lines in the narrow ground-level space, a crowd serenely looked down at the scene from an upstairs section where tables and bottles were the order of the day.  And beneath the main level, in a subterranean area so sound-proof and cozy that you could quite forget that a concert was happening a mere 10 feet above, a crowd danced and chatted, oblivious to the ruckus going on above their heads.

The party was the first of Le Baron's Encore nights, a weekly Monday shindig presented by Absolut Vodka and co-sponsored by Spin.