- For a club as big as Fabric, it's always been amazing how the venue has somehow managed to retain its personal touch. The staff is pictured on the website, there's the comedy invitations and free gifts with the residents faces on them and, when it comes to birthday party time, the fancy dress and props come out and there's a day-long shindig for the crew, friends and faithful too. So as they celebrate nine years of delivering London's underground a lot more successfully than the Tube, have they lost the family vibe? Are they about to grow up? Not a chance.
Saturday's birthday party was a whopper. A huge DJ line-up (Friday's was just as big!) of DJ favourites and residents walloping a quality mix of house and techno through the club's gargantuan sound system (which is sounding a lot better these days). There were lines outside the club that almost stretched back to the station. Inside, unsurprisingly, it was the same. Yes, it made it difficult to get around the club, but if you made the effort, it was worth it. And if you didn't, it was still worth it, as every room delivered.
Room 3's Detroit triumvirate of Keith Worthy, Omar-S and Patrice Scott skirted the house/techno divide, then brought 'em together with bang. Robert Hood does what he does best, and abused room 2 back to kingdom come. (That's a good thing.) I was mostly in room one (once you found your spot, it was hard to move) for an impressively bumpy tech house set from Shinedoe and a sterling Martin Buttrich. "Cruise Control" sounded as you would expect—amazing. Resident Terry Francis was a surprise of the night—peak time in room one never his usual slot—but he delivered a fluid chunk of tech house the like of which I've not heard from him in years. Fantastic.
After that, it gets hazy—Luciano dazzled and disappointed in equal measure, Craig Richards messed with people's minds, and by the time the light was strong outside, the music had taken second place to the high jinks as the fancy dress seemed to have spread far beyond the staff and the inflatables were out in force.
This was a proper birthday party—all that was missing was the jelly and ice cream. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the mix, somewhere. Next year, can we get a lucky bag, please?
Photo credit: Nick Ensing and Nik Torrens