The Moonstone, St John's Precinct, 1974, from The Lost Pubs and Clubs of Liverpool City Centre DVD by John Harrison Barry Fairfield said: "Great memories, my favourite club was The Beachcomber." 53. From the Kinolibrary archive film collections. This article was amended on 11 September 2016. For drum and bass legend Fabio, who hosted Swerve, the clubs midweek blowout, every Wednesday, it was one of the first clubs in London built by DJs for DJs. You had, in all probability, just left Turnmills, the first club in the UK to receive a 24 hour license. Turnmills, Clerkenwell1990-2008Another one of Londons fossilised superclubs, Turnmills was the first venue in the UK to get a 24-hour dance licence. Where to find the February issue of Kentishtowner, Where to find the January 2019 issue of Kentishtowner, Where to find the December issue of Kentishtowner, http://www.amazon.co.uk/CROSS-1993-2003-Jonathan-CUTTING/dp/B0010786KI, http://wharferj.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/stealth-the-blue-note/. 12. But the magic was gone weve since seen the end for the Den, too. Still, this wasnt the reason the venues got turfed; the bailiffs were eventually called in as a result of long overdue rent and bills. 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The demise of so many iconic spaces, proper clubs, remains a tragedy for a city that still considers itself a capital of European partying. Reliving my 20s again still with a younger GF (cliche alert) and the new wave of EDM. It was almost impossible due to vibration from the soundsystem Later feeling sick in the stomach because of the same reason. It drew in big name DJs and its club night FWD>> was a rite of passage for many Londoners going out in the early 2000s. but it went wrong after the terrible stabbing on a bank holiday sunday night. In the 1950s and 1960s, especially with the growing popularity of the Gateways nightclub in Chelsea, . A linchpin in London's dubstep scene, it was a shock for bass-loving partiers when the Shoreditch venue announced its sudden closure in 2015. Jon Cook. Egg Sando, Panadera: Londons best 4.50 sandwich? The End and AKA, West End1995-2009A venue that just seemed to stick in the hearts of all who frequented it, the End was an intimate basement club run by Mr C and Layo, tucked just behind High Holborn. Remember one night trying to adjust the needles for them not to jump on the vinyls. Wonderful write up of some of the clubs that paved the way for the scene today. I wouldnt even know where to go nowadays for a night out. Jimi Hendrix played his first UK gig here, Paul McCartney, The Who, The Kinks, Rod Stewart and various members of the Stones all partied in this subterranean spot secreted down a cobbled mews behind Fortnum and Mason. Limelight in London was one of a string of Limelight clubs owned by Canadian Peter Gatien - other Limelight clubs in the chain were in Hallandale in Florida, Atlanta, Chicago and New York City. Losing those places feels like losing a family member never to return. Arts charity Stone Nest began to restore and redevelop the former chapel into flexible performance space for theatre, dance, music, video and performance art in 2012. How weve missed it all: the overly zealous bouncers in high vis jackets by the entrance, the larcenously overpriced plastic bottles of water, the sweaty bloke in the gents toilets who rents the watered down cologne and Chupa Chups lollies concession and the DJ whose pretence of being a serious artist is such that he spends his six hour set peering down at his decks in the manner of an A Level geography student cramming for the final exam. Top 5 Lost London Nightclubs of the 90s - The pace of progress eh? I remember them all so well!! This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Mike Nolan from Bucks Fizz appeared at the club in 1997, and boy band D.V.S and singing star Caprice also made memorable appearances. The Astoria, Soho1976-2009Not even Londons largest live music club could stand in the way of the Crossrail development. The huge venue, which filled six arches, brought a Balearic party vibe to a run-down corner of London, with club nights including Glitterati and Cheeky People. I would work a ten hour shift at a newspaper then drive to Bagleys to spend 5/6 hours talking to ravers, taking photos of people, checking they werent eating their tongues and giving out free condoms (Durex sponsors had given us hundreds of boxes of the things). In Berlin you can rave for days at the Berghain without ever having to leave and in Madrid no one hits the "discoteca" before 4am. I Did the lighting and laser systems at turnmills for many different promoters. Its sudden closure came as a big shock to staff and owners; Network Rail turned up with angle grinders, cut through the metal shutters and took possession of the venue so it could go ahead with its station upgrade plans. I remember one of their selling points was drinks at pub prices. So blessed to have lived through that experience and a special mention to my ex Alan and DJ Chris McKoy. If the Mayor grants planning permission for a huge development of flats opposite Ministry of Sound, club bosses know their days at the Elephant & Castle bus depot cum internationally renowned temple of DJ culture will be numbered. Redferns/Getty Images . London nightclubs facing 'perfect storm' of threats . Didnt boy george have a residency there? Some of the greatest nights of my life have been at FWD>> at Plastic People.. Real friendships were made, some that lasted a few hours and some, decades. It was hip long before Shoreditch was, and paved the way for the plethora of nightlife venues that have popped up in the area since. London Boys singles chronology. In the early 2000s it incorporated the successful Pitt Street club Sublime in the late 1990s, run by Simon Page. We do have to move on though and surely there are opportunities for a new generation of people who want to create new nightclub venues, with fresh ideas. I think the concern is that given the way that redevelopment is happening across town, one day soon there wont be any suitable spaces where clubs can settle. Having recently celebrated its 50th birthday, Tramp has changed remarkably little in the half century since the small door on Jermyn Street in Mayfair opened its doors. After all, it did have a capacity pushing 4,000 people and a 24-hour drinking licence. The basement of 69 Dean Street, Soho, housed Gossips (formerly Billy's) nightclub, which hosted various one-nighters, the best known being Gaz's Rockin' Blues. First there was Matter and then there was Proud2. At Camden a Palace, I met my best friend, who is now the godmother of my 7 year old son. 6. have always wondered where he is now and what hes up to. hope youre well? Taking Ecstasy for the first time and experiencing the euphoria of the blissed out Balearic beats at Space nightclub, Oakenfold and his wife Jenni came home and tried to re-create it in a 300 capacity basement gym on Southwark Street. The likes of Oasis and Nirvana played there and it hosted regular LGBT club nights. Limelight in Atlanta was also a place to see and spot celebrities over the years. The very social cafe upstairs, the dense dry-ice on the main floor with the mesmerising lasers, hottest guys, new bizarre sounds, the knowledge that the rest of England was sleeping and had no idea that such hedonism was taking place on a Sunday morning and night (you missed out Warriors) all fuelled after an initial polite and orderly wait in line to see Nick (is he out yet?) SeOne, London Bridge2002-2010It was billed as Londons biggest nightclub, a 3,000-capacity venue set in a vast set of arches beneath London Bridge station, known for big-name Saturday nighters as well as regular Moondance raves. Ruby Violet: NW5s pioneering ice cream parlour to close, Let It Roll Records closes. Hi Martyn! In the 1990s, the scene reverted back to Soho, revitalised by new style bars like The Village. We took a nostalgic look back at some of the capital's notorious nightclubs which have all closed since 2000. The club was also hugely important for the capitals LGBT scene, hosting sellout weekly bonanza G-A-Y, known for getting stars as bright as Kylie and Britney on stage, as well as for dropping balloons on everyone at regular intervals. October 2018 the anonymous landlord of the former chapel won planning approval from Westminster council to upscale the venue into a major performance venue on the West End's arts scene with a restaurant and basement bar, run by Stone Nest. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. The licence was subsequently restored, but the business was unable to avoid going into administration. Cramming into clubs packed with big hair, booze and pounding music was a rite of passage in the 1980s and into the 1990s. These days? And since the turn of the Millennium some of our city's best party establishments have had to close. The regulars often spent hours preparing for the night, and the morning the night morphed into. You can head back to a mate's house and lounge with a cold one until your party mood completely fades, but what if you still have itchy feet and the urge to dance? Its a shame that the ones boarded up or abandoned arent brought back to life. There are now just 1,733 venues compared with 3,144 in 2005 and in the last 10 years London has lost 10 top clubs. According to its owners, the time felt right to move on. MoS is an institution, still respected by much of the dance music cognoscenti but derided in many quarters for having long since become the Bluewater of nightclubs; mostly now populated by coach parties from Essex.