13 Years of The End

We look back over 13 years of madness...

The End’s main room in 1995, before Douglas Paskin’s designs started to take shape.

Chicago House producer Armando, one of the fathers of acid house, died of leukemia in 1996, aged just 26. A stellar line-up gathered to pay tribute, including Laurent Garnier, Layo & Bushwacka, Darren Emerson, Carl Cox, Rocky and Diesel, LTJ Bukem and Fabio.

The End’s bar in 1996. In this photo are Liam and Ty, who are still managing the venues today.

The original staff uniforms – a space-age blue jumpsuit designed by nineties club-wear designer Daniel Poole.

The building in 1996 – painted white, with no AKA.

New Year’s Eve 1996. A special New Year for The End which had just celebrated its first birthday. DJs were Darren Emerson, Colin Dale, Hector Romero, Mr C, Layo & Bushwacka!

The NYE party spilled over onto the undeveloped space next door, turning into what felt like a big illegal rave, that went on well into the next day. A special night, and the space eventually became legal, opening as The End’s sister bar AKA.

Layo DJing in the main room – resident from the first day, and founder alongside Mr C.

Grooverider playing the main room at Prototype – the label night that he held at the club until the end of the ‘90s

October ’98. Skint held parties at The End on the first Friday of the month from ’97 onwards, as well as their 10th Birthday celebrations in 2005. Fatboy Slim here taking the controls of the main room.

One dedicated End fan went to the length of getting the logo tattooed. Guestlist for life we reckon…

Carl Cox was resident at the Ultimate Base parties at The End from 1996 onwards, alongside Jim Masters. Here, in November ’98, Coxy takes over the lounge...

...whilst Sven Vath mans the main room.

Wall of Sound held a multitude of parties at The End, including ‘Night of a Thousand Stars’, where everyone was sent a person that they had to dress as, and ‘The Wig Out’, with, you guessed it, a wig on every head. This is Jacques Lu Cont at one of their parties in October ’99.

Ram Records is one of the nights that has been with The End from the start. Here, Roni Size headlines the main room in November ’99.

We held three legendary boat parties over the years, up and down the Thames, with Layo and Bushwacka! DJing. The boat was the Silver Sturgeon, moored behind the Savoy hotel – with the afterparty running all night at The End

The legendary blue building on West Central Street

The End’s 9th Birthday in 2004, with Mr C, Green Velvet, and Layo & Bushwacka! celebrating with a special alternative set. The boys bought out some spectacular finds from their record collections for an anything-goes adventure that took in breaks, funk, soul and classic party tunes.

Discotec was the original midweek gay / mixed night in central London with a hedonistic crowd and atmosphere to rival any weekend party. The beautiful boys and gorgeous girls of the London scene flocked to The End every Thursday for a night of dressing up and getting down

AKA’s 7th birthday in 2005, with an Adventures in Wonderland theme. Guests perched on giant mushrooms downstairs, the building was covered with grass, and a Mad Hatters Tea Party ran riot on the Mezzanine.

DJ Marky in action – the Brazilian whirlwind is one of The End’s most dynamic residents.

The End’s 10th Birthday – a week long party running from Trash on the Monday, to Clandestino on the Sunday. On Saturday, Laurent Garnier (pictured) played live, and was joined by Layo and Bushwacka!, Mr C, Erol Alkan, Justice and many more.

Layo DJing at the 10th Birthday. We only know of a couple of people who made it to every single party in the 7-day long celebration – and Layo was one of them.

Fabio’s mid-week party Swerve has always been a must for any self respecting D&B head. MC-free, the night is renowned for giving birth to liquid funk.

Erol Alkan is a cornerstone of The End – with his legendary night Trash, and his residency at Bugged Out!, where his legendary lounge sets defined a whole genre of indie-rave mash up, and bootlegs.

Trash bowed out on its 10th birthday in January 2007. The Monday night saw thousands of people queuing to pay homage and say goodbye.

Andy C at his Ram Records night – the party has seen every drum & bass DJ under the sun behind the decks, but Andy has always been the star.

AKA’s 9th Birthday saw a full moon shine on West Central Street, with a Thai beach party taking over AKA. The main room was turned into a jungle, with DJ Marky playing a classics set from the beach hut DJ booth, and cocktails being enjoyed in the tree house upstairs.

Circo Loco brought a slice of Ibizan madness to The End – with the crowd being the main star. Sorting the lost property on the Monday after one of their nights is always fun – masks, hats, even tennis rackets, and of course the famous red wigs.

Richie Hawtin has brought his Plus 8 and Minus labels to West Central Street from the opening, one year causing New Years to come early for London’s techno fans, with an audacious party held on the 30th December.

Layo and Bushwacka’s all-night sets are the stuff of End legend.

Dubstep came to The End in 2006, with cult London party FWD>> joining in June that year. Skream is playing here just after his eponymous debut album put the genre on the radar for the wider public.

In August 2008, we celebrated 20 years since the summer of acid house, with a rave-tastic party, seeing everyone get into the spirit of things with plenty of smiley faces. Global hypercolour tshirts were in scant supply, thankfully.

Friction’s Shogun Audio party was a latecomer to The End, but one that quickly got into the spirit of things. Here, Goldie and Friction take their banter public, with t-shirts laying out their manifesto to take the other down,

Sven Vath has long been one of the club’s most popular residents, always laying down a set of blistering techno and entertaining the crowd with his antics in the DJ booth. He plays his final set at the club for The End’s 13th birthday on Saturday 6th December - the start of the final run of parties leading up to the end of The End...

Published: Fri, 28/11/2008