The End - One of London's Best-Loved Venues
Reported by benz
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Submitted 14-12-04 21:06
This month sees one of the country's most legendary clubs celebrate its 9th birthday. The End, located smack bang in the centre of London town, has been a consistently quality operation from the outset - and over the past 9 years it has played host to some of the finest dance music around. From Riot! to Progression Sessions, Underwater to Ram Raiders...the diversity and quality of the many events that have taken place at this wonderful, intimate venue have never been in question. I caught up with The End Crew to find out some more info about this amazing venue.
Who set up The End, and why? What other clubs were doing well at that point in time?
DJs Mr C and Layo set up The End, which opened in 1995. They believed that it was important to create a central London venue giving access to real underground electronic music rather than more populist styles of dance music. They also wanted to create a club that showed real consideration for clubbers through elements like friendly security, sofas on the dancefloor and a free water fountain. Other clubs operating at the time included Ministry of Sound and Cream.
Who came up with the design for the club? The DJ booth in the middle of the dancefloor is a stroke of genius!
Architect Douglas Paskin worked on the design of the club with Layo and Mr C acting as advisors. Together they came up with a plan that combined architectural innovation and flair plus giving both DJs and clubbers just the kind of venue they wanted.
What was the first event at The End, who was playing, and how successful was it?
The opening night at The End was called 'The Beginning' and it was bonkers! DJs playing were Colin Faver and Stacey Pullen in the main room, with Ron Trent and Chez Damier in the lounge plus Femi B and Malcolm Duffy. It was a massive success in terms of the crowd and the vibe, but the venue was a sight the morning after the party!
Many cite The End as their favourite London club - what ingredients do you think the club has which makes people like it so much?
The End always delivers, because of what's always in place here - a state of the art venue and facilities, a killer five-way crossover sound-system and a range of fantastic clubs delivering only the best underground music. People know they're in for a good time when they come here, and over the past 9 years they've had enough good nights to keep coming back to what has become their favourite club!
There has been much talk of declining numbers in clubland over recent years, but to me it seems that The End rarely has a quiet moment - is this true?
Yes the punters keep us very busy, as we're welcoming them through our doors nearly night of the week!
Tell us about some of the most successful events that run at The End.
There's so many to mention but some of the most popular are the Saturday nighters All Night Long with Layo & Bushwacka!, Superfreq. with Mr C, Laurent Garnier's bi-monthly residency and the techno nights hosted by both Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin. Bugged Out!, and Underwater are massive too. On Fridays the D&B nights Ram, Renegade Hardware are always rammed. And of course Erol Alkan's Trash on Mondays is very popular. On Sundays, monthly, aside from Riot!, there's also the glamorous house fest Clandestino.
Are there any changes being made to the club in the not-too-distant future? Or is it a case of "if it ain't broke..."?
One of the major recent changes made has been to The End's website endclub.com. It's looking and sounding really good. You can listen to exclusive new DJ mixes plus read features and interviews with all The End DJs. We're always making changes and improvements to the venue itself, for example it received a fresh coat of blue paint recently and refurbishment of the interior is ongoing. As for the programming you can expect us to continue putting on ace parties well into the distant future!
If you had an unlimited budget, what kind of party would you ideally like to put on in The End?
Parties at The End aren't really about how much we spend. It's all about making sure the venue is ready for the DJs and the crowd and about the vibe generated by the people and the music...
And finally, what have you got in store for The End's 9th birthday weekend?
The End's 9th birthday weekend was one of the best birthdays ever in the venue's history! We had Layo & Bushwacka! playing a special alternative set all night in AKA, with Mr C and Green Velvet laying it down in the main room. We had the venue decked out for Christmas, plus birthday treats for the guests. It was a fantastic night for everyone involved.
Riot! The Fourth Annual X-Mess Party
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On:
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Sunday 19th December 2004
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At:
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The End [map]
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From:
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15:00 - Late
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Cost:
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£9 Paying Guestlist/Members. MOTD
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Website:
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www.riotinlondon.com
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Ticket Info:
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For paying guestlist: guestlist@riotinlondon.com
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More:
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X-mass comes but once a year. It’s a party filled with joy, laughter and 800 of the UK’s finest lunatics going for gold.
Every year this event has reached capacity as its reputation as the official Hard Dance Christmas get together grows. Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the UK are represented to the max in this celebration of another fantastic year of Hard Dance. 2004 will be no different! Reserve your place on the dancefloor and come shake it with Santa.
Our Halloween party was a sell out event attracting 800 dressed up ghouls and ghosts. It was arguably our best party to date and names are already being sent into our paying guestlist even though there’s still 6 weeks to go until this wicked party!
See you on the Dancefloor, Bk and Ed Real
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Flyer:
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 - 
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Region:
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London
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Music:
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House. Funky House. Hard House. Techno.
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DJ's:
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SANTA'S GHETTO:
BK & d Real
SUPRISE SECRET SANTA SPECIAL GUEST!
Adam Lab4 DJ Set (Riot! Exclusive)
Anne Savage
BATTLE OF BAR RIOT CONTINUES!
Sharp Boys
Anne Savage - 2nd funky set
Tom Real
Eray Morehouse
THIRSTY DJ'S present; DJChewy b2b Rob Alexander
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The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Top moments for me @ the End are seeing Steve Lawler play for 8hrs & witnessing a tribe of drum players @ Riot! on Nottinghill Carnival weekend in 2002.