TNG bids a fond farewell to Slinky with classic '98 set by Digweed

It’s with a great deal of sadness that The Noise Gate waves goodbye to legendary dance event promoter, Slinky.

Having run into financial difficulties of late, the former superclub brand, once at the vanguard of big-budget production clubbing in the UK and around the world, is preparing to host its it’s very last event this evening at the O2 Academy (formerly known as the Opera House) in its home town of Bournemouth, UK.

It was at the original Opera House, however, the spiritual home of Slinky, once owned by the club, where it lived out its golden years. Those lucky enough to have experienced the sensory assault that was the club’s electric main room in its glorious heyday, from the late nineties to the early 2000s, will most probably remember those nights out as some of the best they’ve ever had.

During this era, Slinky stood toe-to-toe with monolithic rivals like Gatecrasher, Cream and Godskitchen, and on more than one occasion led the race, delivering line-ups that consistently read like a who’s who of trance and hard dance, while also championing lesser-known but, in many cases, exceptionally talented DJs who put on audacious and jaw-dropping performances. Slinky’s levels of production in terms of sound and visual effects were never short of incredible, and the atmosphere in the club was always exhilarating.

Such was Slinky’s success in Bournemouth that it drew clubbers from all over the UK who came to experience what many at the time were calling the UK’s best club. Its location on the south west coast made it rather hard to reach for those living anywhere north or east of London, often requiring a long and arduous journey to get there, yet they came in droves, from places as far-flung as Glasgow, driving 450 miles, on the edge of their seat the entire way in anticipation. I doubt any were disappointed.

Naturally enough, Slinky’s superclub status led to club nights in Ibiza, arenas at the biggest dance festivals of the time and a number of compilation CD albums mixed by Opera House regulars and Slinky residents, some rather uniquely packaged, making them all the more exciting and collectable. There were even a set of branded turntable slipmats (proudly owned by one of my best friends) and, of course, all manner of other merchandise, all of which will now become part of the club’s distinguished legacy.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that the club hasn’t maintained its popularity throughout the years since the decline of the scene that helped propel it to such heady heights over a decade ago, but the dance event industry has changed dramatically and, it appears, Slinky has struggled to adapt. Despite attracting 1,400 people to events, the brand is no longer financially viable. Its most recent event, the 16th birthday party in May, left the firm with considerable losses, despite strong ticket sales.

Perhaps the most painful aspect of Slinky’s demise is that acclaimed DJ, Lee Haslam, who saved the club from closure by leasing it from the owners in 2010, has not given up without a fight, and calling time on Slinky has been an agonising decision for him. Likewise, others involved in running the event have held onto the hope of its survival for as long as they could. Haslam has personally financed Slinky for some time now, shouldering the clubs’s recent losses himself. Understandably, he is unable to continue to doing this.

“I’m very upset. I and a lot of other people have put time and effort into Slinky,” said Haslam in an interview with the BBC. “It’s hard when you are putting two to three hundred man hours into an event. A few times I have ended up paying for the privilege. The numbers are OK but, to survive, we need to sell out every event. Our costs are high – it’s £3,000 to take the venue on, then there are the DJs and other people who need paying. It’s a very expensive game. And I think there’s a new breed of clubber who’s not into trance. People are more into EDM and other stuff now.”

“There are so many memories, though. We are very fortunate to have had the Slinky faithful, and the aesthetics of the building were awe-inspiring. We have held some great parties in that venue.”

Despite the club’s demise, the weekly Slinky Sessions radio show will continue each Saturday on the Digitally Imported website, while the record label, Discover, will carry on releasing Slinky’s music.

And what better way to celebrate the life and times of the fabled club than with a classic set from its heyday – a rare recording of John Digweed playing Slinky on April 12th, 1998, way back when he was known for spinning trance cuts! Click through to the Soundcloud page if you want the tracklist.

(BTW – track 1 is actually ‘El Nino’ by Agnelli & Nelson)

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