At Camden a Palace, I met my best friend, who is now the godmother of my 7 year old son. Didnt boy george have a residency there? Want the best food, film, music, arts and culture news in London sent straight to your inbox? Surely he must be out by now. From sweaty rave spots to Soho institutions, these are the iconic nightlife haunts we most miss. He then says, whilst his tash does this little dance/shuffle thing, in the deepest booming, bass-like voice Awighht, Lads, you havin yerselves a good night, then? Me and my brother just cracked up. The pictures are quite shocking, but their club history often deliciously more so. However, its worth taking a moment to remember that nightclubs, by their very essence, shouldnt outstay their welcome. Jon Cook. London's lost nightclubs in pictures A new book by DJ and writer Dave Haslam offers a fascinating glimpse into London's clubbing history. Before the Millenium Dome became the O2 Arena we know today it was home to a couple of nightclub's. The works. hope youre well? Magic was created on those dancefloors and longstanding relationships and friends. Ministry of Sound. I lost my marbles in all of these places in the 90s. Clubs in Mayfair London are the most prestigious nightclubs in town. Many clubs in London's West End (Gullivers, Gossips, Crackers, Africa Centre, the 100 Club) and areas like Hackney, Haringey, Brent, Ealing and Lambeth, were now creating a new experience of. Back then, the huge 2,000 capacity venue was a Saturday night lockout and one . lol, The tranny on stilts I think the last great night I had in a bigger club was Shelter at Egg in 2005. Don't skip a beat and sign up to The 12 newsletter here. Something went wrong, please try again later. The smell of leather was unmistakeable! No 6 - Bagleys - London Bagleys was one of London's largest venues throughout the Nineties. Astoria in Charing Cross Road was London's largest live music club for years. It was the venues teen parties that got it into hot water, however, when police found evidence of underage drinking there in 2009. You'll get 12 stories straight to your inbox at around 12pm. For a year or so, this was an explosion of androgyny, increasingly bizarre and fabulous homemade fashion and lashings of clunky, proto synths. Bagley's, King's Cross (1990-2008) Instagram The massive warehouse club in King's Cross was a close as you could get to a legal rave. 2. The Grosvenor Cinema opened in 1936. This week, Boris Johnson has been considering a decision that will affect the future of Londons most famous nightclub. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Between 1987 and 1990, when police pressure forced its closure, Shoom was where the London dance club as we know it today was born. With a capacity of barely 200, the vibe, somehow, always kept its intimate, non-exclusive air. Four Aces, Dalston1966-1998In what was, ostensibly, a simpler time for Dalston, the Four Aces was the areas flagship club. In the middle years of the 60s this was the place to be seen. Velvet Rooms, Soho1993-2003Ibiza party man Nicky Holloway kickstarted this central London club originally named Velvet Underground after his previous project, Milk Bar, lost its lease. Bagleys was always my favourite. Cans of beer I was there at the closing parties on the last two nights without leaving! migrated from the Milk Bar around the corner, Danny Rampling ruled wednesday night, and Jon Pleased took over the tradition.Shoom, Pure, Glam, Pleased the weekends fun used to begin on a wednesday,,,,OMG !! 6. At the fulcrum of the acid house scene, it became absurdly popular, partly thanks to its strawberry scented smoke machines and strobe lights. Perhaps its biggest night was FWD>>, which moved there after Velvet Rooms closed, and the club played a significant role for the the whole dubstep scene. Standouts would have to be Logical Progression and Gallery at Turnmills, Buzzin Fly, Ram and Underwater @ The End and Type and the mighty Peace Division @ The Cross happy, happy times. Hailed as Kilburn's "last late night venue", The Good Ship announced its closure to the dismay of comedy and live music lovers across London in September 2017. 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. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. The Astoria, Soho1976-2009Not even Londons largest live music club could stand in the way of the Crossrail development. Had some amazing times in those clubs, never to repeated in TBA East London warehouses. 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. With alternate Saturdays at Happiness Stan's/Fourplay at Smith's and the Jazz Bistro in Farringdon. Throughout the 90s and 00s the venue attracted party-lovers from far and wide and also played host to a number of big-name acts. It has St Martin's Art College in Granary Square and Thomas Heatherwick's upmarket shopping centre Coal Drops Yard. so much fun should be illegal. A former Goth club with 2/3 rooms over 2 floors. All the London clubs now are appearing and disappearing like mushrooms. 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. In 1987, Rachel Macmillan, granddaughter of the Conservative prime minister Howard Macmillan, died aged 31 after a night at the Limelight. 10. If you screwed up, you were thrown to the lions. After 14 years, however, its owners wanted to move on, saying they wanted to leave on a high. Ill email you! But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Well, sort of in fairness as all venues involved being pretty blitzed. A dominant hair design was de rigueur. musical boundaries being broken, relationships being formed, inspiration etc, is then taken and truned into something else. It was where world-famous artists like Adele and The XX cut their teeth, and was a gem of the North London nightlife scene. Its really sad that the times have achanged and in a reflection of this, all these fantastic places are being bulldozed. Turning around and seeing floor fountains and Mail on Sunday readers sipping lattes and eating Danish pastries made my heart sink. Despite the epic interior, or perhaps because of it, the venue struggled to pull in the punters during its later years, blaming the recession for its eventual closure. I lived in London back in the late 90s early 00s and went to all of these clubs. And some ex-boxer DJ? To order the clip clean and high res visit http://www.kinolibrary.com. Hey Janine, I remember you well! Plus I think Friction was there for a bit to. (1989) " London Nights ". Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. My walk to work takes me past what used to to be the entrance to Turnmills every morning it never fails to bring a smile to my face when I think of the good times I had there. By the 90s, everyone from Desmond Dekker to the Prodigy had played there. Ironically, the development never happened and the club was eventually reopened as the Den and Centro. Great memories of perhaps the greatest clubbing/club music period history has known! it probably was ha ! The spot is now a lap dancing club called The Red Rooms. Read more: Has Covid-19 ended Sohos indie spirit for good? Killjoy councils, student debt and stolen phones: the slow death of British clubs, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Nice article that has brought back some wonderful memories. It was the place to go. Despite pioneering an anything goes party culture in London, by the late noughties, the buzz was fading. Thanks Liam. A bare room with the most rudimentary of bars at one end (cans of Red Stripe or nothing) in a Hoxton basement, the place came to prominence in the Nineties and Noughties as an incubator for dubstep and for possessing one of the greatest sound systems ever owned by a nightclub. A perfectly acceptable thing to do at the time. Reminded me of my mis-spent but highly pleasurable youth on the dance floors of a London. Now can you expand on one for the rest of London please, would love to see Club UK brought back to life if only in words! 3. The exterior of Hammersmith Palais nightclub in 1968 when it was still known as Hammersmith Palais de Danse . Something went wrong, please try again later. Pete.. The brand name is constantly evolving and the club continues to survive despite numerous threats of closure. Sad to see the old clubs flattened, but everyone clearly took so much from their experiences there that I hope the post is also a real celebration. In 2018 it was bought by chain The Deltic Group and given a. 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. MyLondon's brilliant newsletter The 12 is absolutely jam packed with all the latest to keep you keep you entertained, informed and uplifted. In the 1950s and 1960s, especially with the growing popularity of the Gateways nightclub in Chelsea, . It later became the Cat's Whiskers club, the Ritzy then Caesars Nightclub. Must be sat looking pretty on a fair few coffee tables to this day, The cross & turnmills, nothing did or has come close. If you were staggering down the Clerkenwell Road on a Sunday afternoon at around 4pm in the early '90s then you can consider yourself a true nightclub pioneer. It was made for DJs by DJs and those who fumbled fumbled spinning the decks were quickly called out by the crowd. 16. It is quite sad seeing a place that holds so many memories for whatever reasons e.g. We could party on until 1pm without worrying if the police were going to turn up, says Smokin Jo, who was resident DJ at the night. Anyway, as the corridor joined Soundshaft to Heaven (and Heaven being pretty legendry), I decided to go to the loo. I took a diversion myself up York Way a while back and took similar snaps of Bagleys and The Cross. I remember them all so well!! I half remember a night at Bagleys sitting in an ice cream fridge next to the dancefloor. And since the turn of the Millennium some of our city's best party establishments have had to close. 3. next. The music, the mixing, the vibe. 1. OMG London clubbing in the 90s, was there ever a time in history that was better? This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Pre-club beers in the Backpacker, I was never really that keen on Turmills as I felt the space was a little awkward. Black Sheep Bar, Croydon. Its a shame that the ones boarded up or abandoned arent brought back to life. As of 2021, MoS now also has its own record label, gym, cruise ship franchise and full size members only shared workspace on Borough Road incorporating private offices, a cinema, meeting rooms for hire and a full service restaurant. A real eye opener, that night. Stir some memories with these photographs from the '90s Birmingham club and rave scene. Losing those places feels like losing a family member never to return. People from across the capital will flock to Herbal, an exposed brick warehouse which regularly hosted big name DJs. When a property developer came along offering to buy the End and its sister bar next door, AKA, they decided to accept the offer. Wow, it was a long time ago. I (just about) have wonderful memories of all 5 of those venues. So move I did, all the way from Helsinki. 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. Big small club! 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. Bob Geldof had his stag do at Limelight before he married Paula Yates, George Michael (pictured here in 1992) was often seen at Limelight with a woman on his arm, Inside the former Welsh chapel which was once home to the Limelight nightclub. Keep us up to date with how your inspiration is getting on. Punters at The Bubble Club, The Que Club, 1996. I Did the lighting and laser systems at turnmills for many different promoters. We set the standard for many years I wonder.. What can we create next >?? 4. . Today the building is, quite fittingly, home to an arts organisation with new plans afoot to take the arts venue into the future. According to its owners, the time felt right to move on. Nick, the big bald black guy who always had a smile on his face, pretty much the master of ceremonies at Turnmills. Constant disagreements on how to regenerate the land behind Kings Cross Station went on for years. But I will never forget the fabulous nights and camaraderie that I shared with friends and total strangers whilst waving my hands in the air like I just didnt care x, I met my husband at The Cross in 2004, now happily married with kids. 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. 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. Great article and very sad reading. Bring your dancing shoes and prepare for a night packed with tunes from the likes of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Beyonce and Jay-Z as we introduce the best R&B events . From the weekly FWD>> nights, where the UK bass scene emerged, to the broken beat nights Co-op, this was a club that managed to evolve and change while somehow remaining the same for over 20 years, a run that ended only when long-standing manager Charlotte Kepel felt the time was right to pull the plug in 2015. Limelight in London opened in 1985 in a Grade II listed former Welsh Presbyterian church in Shaftsbury Avenue in the West End borough of Westminster. Will come back around and write more. Copyright 2023 London Belongs To Me Ltd|All Rights Reserved|More info: With your agreement, we and our partners (click on 'Find Out More' below for a list) use cookies or similar technologies to store, access, and process personal data like your visit on this website, IP addresses and cookie identifiers. Great article. Ruby Violet: NW5s pioneering ice cream parlour to close, Let It Roll Records closes. I am now all grown up at 42 with a respectable job and look like I am, a middle aged mum. However, a thumping set and fab laser show by the master PVD at the re-invented Fridge aka Electric Brixton a while ago demonstrated, with the right amount of desire, opportunity and application it can still be done. Top 5 Lost London Nightclubs of the 90s - The pace of progress eh? I have one precious copy, sadly. Renowned for their sexy vibes, pumping playlists and heaving dancefloors, we've been out to track down the very best places for music in London. Sat 30 May 2020 17.00BST Ive worked in Turnmills from 1996 right to the very last night in 2008. But we've been getting all nostalgic and wishing we could have a final drink at Limelight. The massive warehouse club in King's Cross was a close as you could get to a legal rave. London Night Guide is your nightlife concierge for the most best clubs in London. In the past 15 years, some of best-loved venues of the London club scene have shut their doors, for reasons ranging from crime to gentrification and Crossrail. All the new secret location parties `I work in these days are usually stuck in cold,dirty and faceless arches. Remind trade on sat nite dj smokin joe the paradise at angel station the lazerodrome in peckam carl cox at m.o.sound crazy nite misss you. But if you were part of that tiny privileged crowd then you would have been drinking, dancing and pestering David Bailey to take your portrait in Scotch of St. James. In 1979 it was from this Covent Garden spot that the New Romantic movement came forth to rescue England from a music scene of lumpen post-punk mediocrity. And there are also some intriguing facts about the nightclub's sister venues across the pond. Proud2, Greenwich 2011-2012Following the closure of Matter, Alex Proud became the next investor to have a go at making a nightclub at the O2 work. The End was the brainchild of DJs Mr C and Layo. As you pointed out Fabric is the benchmark for a well organised, respected, profitable club in the modern era but you only have to look at the demise of Pacha to see what a dangerous game financially it is nowadays. But things turned sour after after a double stabbing took place in the club, leading to its licence being revoked. 18. I will never stop thinking it was incredible. However, I do hold dear the fact I took advantage of the last ever NYE at The End..needless to say Laurent Garnier did not disappoint:). Lashana Lynch: Its inspiring to see a young black woman on screen not be perfect, The biggest films coming out in 2023 and when theyll be released, Bulgari to open Serpenti exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. Depressing isnt it? When record producer and DJ Paul Oakenfold went to Ibiza in 1985 to celebrate his birthday, he hired a villa and invited then-unknown DJs Nicky Holloway, Pete Tong and Danny Rampling. (1989) " London Nights " is British Europop duo London Boys ' biggest hit single, released in 1989 from their debut album, The Twelve Commandments of Dance. 7. It was around the corner from Angel station. Limelight in Atlanta was also a place to see and spot celebrities over the years. By the 1990s gay venues across the country started to transform. The Walkabout bar closed after its parent company went into administration in October 2009. Cue acid house, bucket hats, baggy T-shirts and lots of sweat. But before it was shut down to make way for King's Cross redevelopment, The Cross Club's six arches would fill with partygoers every weekend. Darling, Fantastic article how about expanding the idea to the rest of the country. Sign up to our newsletter and be the first to know about the latest fashion, travel, going out and lifestyle happenings, Subscribe to the Luxury London print edition, Celebrate the return of clubbing with a trip through the capitals infamous after dark drinking dens. Fantastic and long-needed article, thanks for bringing back the memories. The triple-bowed frontage of the Ace Cinema viewed from the south-west. But many of the places that clubbers flocked to every weekend in their thousands in the post-Criminal Justice Act heyday are being erased from todays landscape. A club with really innovative nights and for the hardcore Metalheadz on a Sunday night. When the lease ran out, Turnmills left amicably, leaving the buildings owners to develop the site into an office block. Mass was a particularly important south London club, notably as the home of DMZ, which turned the venue into a pilgrimage spot for dubstep fans from way beyond the capital. But it was torn down in 2009 to make way for the new Elizabeth Line. Weve picked our Top 5 such venues, all of which were in stumble-home-from distance for Kentishtowners (thats why theres no Club UK for example, if youre wondering). The Soul City nights in Covent Garden were also really good. There was no place to hide. During the 1990s, photographer Steve Eichner documented the rowdy, over-the-top debauchery that was New York City's club scene and nightlife. 15. Sign up to our weekly email. It was where world-famous artists like Adele and The XX cut their teeth, and was a gem of the North London nightlife scene. House night Freedom ran at the club for years and Philip Sallons Mud Club also took place there, as well as the Pussy Posse Party, which included mud-wrestling. Pretty sure the very last ones got dished out at the end of that rather special final bash, Xmas 07. It was one of the premiere south London nightspots of the time, with Glenn Miller, Audrey Hepburn and Charlie Chaplin among the top names to grace its stage. So while we salute the nightspots that have weathered the Covid storm, lets now recall the clubs that have fallen, not just during the pandemic but way, way before that, all of whom, in their day, contributed to the aching limbs, sore feet and empty wallets of hedonistic Londoners of yore. A string of London's best-loved night clubs have closed since 2000. Ok, its technically a pub and Im not sure if we were going there in 90s. These days? I do remember my first time in Trade and deemed it like the descent into Soddom and Gomorrah .. and there were many happy times there after!! Madame JoJo's closure was a massive blow to Soho 's nightlife scene. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Seems quite a few people would like to get their hands on The Cross book dont suppose youve got a lockup full of a last, forgotten batch? A most excellent post Tom.. From the Kinolibrary archive film collections. Electrowerkz was the name!!! Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. When it opened, the Fridge was the club of the New Romantics - Boy George was a regular - before becoming famous for its nights hosted by Soul II Soul. Those that were there will never forget and those that werent would wish they were if they knew. http://www.amazon.co.uk/CROSS-1993-2003-Jonathan-CUTTING/dp/B0010786KI. 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.