The Club visit - The Chunnel Club 1997

 

I recently found several old nightclub reports which I did way back in time which I thought might be of interest to you.

Times have changed in the way we spend our weekends. Even more so when going out during the weekdays for nightlife here in the UK.

If you want to reminisce about clubbing in the UK in the past. Have a read. of my own particular story

The Journey

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect. Going alone to a nightclub situated in South London, England, (let’s get it right ("Sarf London") It wasn't something I did normally.

However, I had promised to come via meeting up with a raver/clubber and up-and-coming DJ called Roo based in London.

Most of my friends from Ipswich Town at the time said that they were either skint or had something else planned during the weekend. So I decided to take the plunge and go on my own. I drove to the outskirts of London.

Parked up within a car park near Gants Hill Tube station, and then tubed my way to the event

It didn't take me that long to get there. A couple of changes on the London Underground tube network.

Firstly entering Gants Hill tube station (See below)

Then venturing onto Vauxhall tube station near the former Trinity  - The Chunnel Club nightclub.

After that, a long walk to the club, and before you knew it I was there. However, I must admit that during the walk I did succumb to asking where I had to turn off the everlasting road that I was on.

"Down there mate. Just pass that petrol station, and then a sharp right, and then you be there guv. On Tinworth Street".

 He was dead right.  However, before going up to the Door Security people. I felt around for my wallet, took a look inside, and noticed that the wallet needed tanking up a bit. Low on cash. That can't do.

Eventually, after an eternity, I reached a cash point that wasn't far from the party spot.

"£20.00 quid, that should do it", I thought. "I'm not going to be drinking that much anyway. I've got a report to write after this."

Making my way back to the club, I took a quick look at my watch... 19.40 pm, mmmm, that’s too early", I thought.

However, it would be a different story if I had come at 23.30.

I would be in line with every Tom, Dick, and Harry trying to get in.

 

At least you had a chance to get in early and not make a fool of yourself later on in the evening in front of Hundreds of clubbers.

Luckily, I had arranged with Richard LEE (DJ Roo), to come down and do a report on the Chunnel Club (101, Tinworth Street, Vauxhall SE1, LONDON).

Trinity - The Chunnel Club Flyer with Prices and Rules

On entering this club again, I was met by 4 Mean looking "Minders/Bouncers".

"Got anything in your pockets guv?"

"No. Apart from my wallet and House keys"

" Yeah, sure? Okay then, spread your arms out, Sonny......

He searched me over. I thought he was going to turn me upside down and shake me to see if anything fell out.

"I'm on the guest list of Richard Lee? I also gave my name.

"Who's he then..a DJ or something?

Oi.. by the way like you're not that DJ who's everybody's going nuts about are you?

Nah, mate, he's from East London!! I've come from Ipswich to be here tonight.

Oh great I thought. Don't say I'd come out all this way, to be told that Richard had forgotten to put me on the list.

"You must know Richard he's one of your DJs. He played here last week! He's invited me down to.....

"Yeah yeah yeah!!! Okay then.. let's check the list then Sonny!!!

After a few short steps, we were inside the entrance hall of the club, where on the table were lollipops and sweets of all descriptions for anyone to have a nibble at.

"Oi is there a  DJ called Richard Lee playing tonight darling!!

After a long silence, the girl behind the wire-covered, paying booth checked her list. She piped up and said a simple no.

What’s his DJ name then? asked the bouncer who was starting to enjoy this...

"Roo.. DJ Roo".

"Ah.. sorry about that, You are down here on the list. Carl Brown, isn't it? .....the girl broke in suddenly.

After all the shenanigans that had taken place a few moments before, I was quickly escorted into the nightspot by one of the Promoters of the night (VINCE) who had happened to be around at the time.

He graciously apologized to me and agreed to show me around the place to compensate for the aggravation.

I thought of asking him for a drink, but that may have been stretching things too far!

On entering the club I noticed that the warm-up DJ was playing so tasty tunes.

DJ LEVEL (his name) was warming up and playing a track that I believe was called "The Boss" by The Braxtons.

Well if first impressions are meant to last, then he certainly created a favourable impression with me. The decor inside the place wasn't outstanding. But it was one of those clubs that I felt perfectly at home with.

Dark, with a few trimmings here and there to put you in the mood, and a nice bar well stacked with everything from mineral water to Wine or Champagne.

The trimmings that I mentioned earlier were aimed towards providing a Roman/ Greek orgy feel to it.

Drapes that were styled towards trying to provide a scene like one of those 1950s Roman Empire epic movies.

There was even a statue there which I thought water was going to come pouring through the statue's private parts any second.!!!

I was taken through to the second room of the club's archway.

Here the music was more uptempo. The DJ (whose name I can’t remember) already had 2 girls up on the dance floor, who were giving the people there a free rendition of "Dirty Dancing".

In the corner, I noticed that the percussion crew were setting up their equipment ready for the hard night ahead.

Within this room, the club had gone for the Greek/Roman decor look when trying to add a bit of color and spice to the place. White drapes and Greek statues were peppered around the club.

The warm-up DJ in this particular room played Hard, funky, and breakbeat House music, which was mixed excellently.

But to stay on within that tip from 10:00 pm to 6:am without any other variation of groove or vibe you needed to be some other kind of clubber.

TRINITY - AT THE CHUNNEL CLUB - THE HARD HOUSE AND TRANCE MUSIC ROOM

Making my way back to the other room with my escort (he did  NOT give me his name, or I have forgotten it) the change in pace between what I had just left was incredible.

"Oye Coma va" by Tita Puente was being played at that moment in time within the Garage Room.

It was at around this period of the evening (22.45/13:00 pm) that I noticed groups of girls had now made their way into the club.

Dressed to the nines many of them, I could see that many had already decided to stay within the  GARAGE room as opposed to going into the  Hard House room.

By 00:00 am, the transformation was complete.

The club was now a roadblock.

The mixture was just right. The club seemed to attract different people from all different walks of life.

From the Up for it larger boys to the Raggas boys standing in the corners.

Also included within this bunch was a group of party animals who decided that nobody,. but nobody was going to take over the stage within the room that they had made their own.

That left people like me mesmerized by what we were witnessing. From the sights and sounds of the clubbers to the "tunes" that were being dropped.

As if by magic, I was met by the person who had made it all possible.

Richard Lee (DJ Roo). Sporting a natty ponystyle hairdo, introduced himself.

We both mentioned how funny it seemed to be to meet each other in the flesh.

After, initially at first conversing with one another over the Internet only a couple of days beforehand.

He introduced me to his girlfriend and another friend of hers who had come along as well, who all had made the trip down from Hemel Hempstead, England.

It was then that all of us made our way to the bar where we ordered our drinks. We then talked about how I got here, and what did I think of the set-up here. 

It was at that point  DJ Roo was informed that he was expected to get ready because he was on to play his DJ set within 15 minutes.

He made his apologies and left for the decks. Quickly, leaving with his girlfriend and friend not far behind, I disappeared into the crowd, so I could get a feel of what his set felt from a clubber's point of view.

The first couple of tunes that he dropped were from the UK GARAGE angle of things.

The crowd went crazy for the first couple of tunes that were dropped which included the track called - "What You Want, What You Need" by Industrial Standard (now being heralded as a classic );

There was also a white label release with writing on the vinyl stating "Confetti records", This had me scampering up to the Dj Booth to inquire about it

TRINITY - AT THE CHUNNEL CLUB - THE UK GARAGE AND HOUSE MUSIC ROOM

Helped along by London's fascination with having an MC chatting live over top Garage Tracks (Mc Creed), I believe his name was) made it even more street and urban.

The crowd was up for it tonight. You could feel it.

Girls within the club were now dancing back to back, as the tunes got fiercer and fiercer

Even the beer boys' who's love for the "hard stuff", got put to one side for the moment, as tunes such as "Just Gets Better" by Tuff Jam were dropped.

I couldn’t see where,  DJ Roo,  was going to be able to fit in some fine USA HOUSE, at the moment.

The crowd was locked into the Sunday Scene sound or UK Garage grooves as most music media mags are calling it now.

Sod the Usa sounding House tunes it seemed. However Dj Roo did manage to fit some in,

The tune called "Misled" by Celine Dione got played I noticed. 

As did the tune called "Saturday" by Alexander Hope. Yet the biggest roars still came for the UK-Garage-inspired Underground tunes.

One of the biggest roars came when he dropped "Deeper" by Lady Penelope and Abstract, "Things are Never" by Operator and Baffled; and lastly the track that got the biggest cheer of the night which was  "Just Gets Better with Time" by Karl "tuff enuff" Brown and Matt "Jam Lamont ( Both heralding from London, England).

My one disappointment though was that it seemed locked in this groove. No variation. But these tunes are so funky, bassline bassline-orientated that I can see why the dance music press, in general, are all turning their heads this way.

The tunes kept coming, and coming from all angles from "Was She Ever Mine" by the Anthill Mob to "All Night Long" by GANT.

What a tune, what havoc it was causing on the dance floor

Even I was on the dancefloor.

Time was up for DJ Roo, and now it was somebody else’s turn to create havoc on the dance floor.

The DJ named  DJ RAMSEY was next up on the stage. He carried on where DJ Roo had just left.

Keeping it very much on a UK Garage/London-sounding tip. But it seemed as if he had a few more tricks up his sleeve.

It looked like he had brought his dubplates to set himself apart from the rest.
It didn’t work all the time though I felt. He seemed determined to drop the heaviest bassline to the crowd.

Whereas DJ Roo had dropped fairly heavy basslines. At least they all featured a funky theme to their tunes which made the crowd move. DJ Ramsey seemed to be wanting to play the hardest bassline possible.

At times it seemed like he was playing for a Drum and Bass crowd.

The first couple of tunes worked well as he introduced them to the crowd of party revelers.

It soon became apparent that he had gone too far with this idea. Noticing the response on the dance floor, he quickly went back into the funky mode that DJ Roo had managed the previous set.

Tunes like "All Night Long" by GANT and "Release the Pressure" by Underground Solutions soon restore things to normal!

The girlies were going for it at this moment. It is surprising what a melody within a song can do to a crowd.

To be fair now everybody was moving. It had reached a stage where wolf whistles, and shouts of "Rewind Selector" were being shouted by individuals all around the club when tunes such as the caliber of "Mixed up" by Melisa Bell were now being released to dead hungry clubbers below.

However, time waits for no man they say.  Eventually, even Ramsey had to give up his seat for the DJ simply known as Gary Aldridge.

Now to be honest I felt that he played the best of the lot from the roaster that I had heard so far.

Even as he started his set on the UK Garage tip, he differed to the extent that he was able to skilfully mix in Usa styled House within the Speed Garage mentality that had existed all night, which in itself had injected a new pace into House and Garage section of the club.

Most of the clubbers at this time had already decided to take a well-earned rest at the front of the club; and take stock that they should at least utter a few words to their partners of whom they came down to spend the evening with.

Aldridge went for some subtle American House tunes that complemented the fascination that most Londoners have for Speed Garage/UK Garage mix/ ."Addicted to your Love" by Plutonic was played as well as R.I.P Groove mix of Bobby D’Ambrosio’s "Moments of my Life".

It was refreshing to hear because I thought that this was the only sound/vibe I was going to hear all night.

At around 05:30 am,

I had decided that enough was enough. Even then as I was leaving, I was held back by the promoter who simply asked me what I thought (ViNCE).

I gave my opinions that boarded on the very good night out, but I wish more was made of the US House sound that was played that night.

He seemed okay with that and replied that most of the DJs that played tonight are very much hooked up to the UK Garage scene.

He thought DJ Roo might differed because he was very much upon his US House music scene.

Even I was leaving and had said my goodbyes to the head promoter. Another roar had just gone up for the tune called "Odyssey One" by Federation X.

They’re not easy down here in South London, England you know.

Now for that long, long journey home. Another memorable evening.

Where's that tube train? It shouldn't be taking so long.