Fabric is a nightclub in Farringdon, London, England. Founded in 1999, it was closed down by authorities in 2016. Fabric began a campaign to save the club and the UK's dance music culture on 16 September 2016. Fabric was later allowed to be reopened under strict laws in 2017. Located on Charterhouse Street opposite Smithfield Market, the club was voted World Number 1 Club in DJ Magazine's "Top 100 Clubs Poll" in 2007 and 2008 and ranked World Number 2 in 2009, 2010 and 2017.
Fabric has three separate rooms with independent sound systems; two of the rooms feature stages for live acts. A feature of the club is its vibrating floor in Room One: known as a "bodysonic" dancefloor, sections of the floor are attached to 400 bass transducers emitting bass frequencies of the music being played.
Links To Peel
FabricLive. 07 - John Peel (2002)
Peel was invited first to perform at Fabric in 2002 and continued performing there until 2003. In an interview with Nick Doherty of Jockey Slut, published in 2002, he described his experience at the club:
"I was amazed, and very, very scared, and it was just fantastic. It was much better than the gigs I used to do in the sixties and seventies or eighties...So Fabric was amazing, fantastic. It was as great a night as I’ve had in my life, and people will say ‘oh, he would say that wouldn’t he’, but it actually was. The fact that people were singing ‘Teenage Kicks’ eight minutes after I’d finished was unforgettable."
After his successful appearances at Fabric, the record label of the same name released an album called FabricLive.07, consisting of tracks compiled by Peel in a mix.
Mentioned In Shows
- 2002
- 18 April 2002: The John Peel Roadshow is apparently due to play again at Fabric (Aug. 2, supposedly) as well as at Sonar in a few weeks’ time, although he claims to be having a crisis of confidence about this (says this is something that even affects 62-year-olds).
- 09 May 2002: Peel says he's due to play Fabric again that summer (Aug 2, he thinks).
- 30 July 2002: A power cut over the weekend had resulted in Peel Acres being without electricity for 18 hours (and also without water for a brief period). It seems that this made the local Anglia TV news. Listener Will Walker suggests that Peel could get hold of a diesel generator in case of future emergency, one of the sort used by council road workers that makes a thumping sound: "You can always keep it in the studio and pretend it's doing a session" he quips. This puts Peel in mind of the Shrewsbury Pumping Station 7", which he happens to have in a box upstairs. He slips an extract of it later in the show and claims that he might play it in its entirety at Fabric on Friday.
- 01 August 2002: Unusually for a Thursday night show, this one is broadcast from the studio in London and not Peel Acres. The reason for this is later explained: Peel is DJing the following evening at Fabric, "making the night air hideous" as he puts it. Sender Berlin are also playing on the same night and their set will be broadcast next week (06 August 2002).
- 05 December 2002: Show comes from London rather than Peel Acres. Peel seems rather coy about revealing the reason, but it's because he will be appearing at Fabric the following evening.
- 2003
- 19 August 2003: Mentions a forthcoming live appearance he'll be making at Fabric on 17 September, then later corrects the date to 17 October. "It's a good thing somebody knows what I'm doing anyway. Certainly isn't me."
- 14 October 2003: There is a competition in the show to win five pairs of tickets to Fabric on Friday, where Peel is playing a set from midnight - 2 am as part of the club's fourth birthday celebrations.
- 16 October 2003: Programme is broadcast from London rather than Peel Acres, as Peel is appearing at Fabric the following evening.
- 21 October 2003: Peel mentions having played at Fabric the previous Friday night (17 October) and says it was "the most enjoyable that I've had there, out of four".
- November 2003 (FSK): Peel thinks he maybe the first grandfather to play at Fabric's.
